Trials and Tribulations
by Agrotera Thanatos
Summary: Sequel to 'Glutton for Punishment'. Love isn't easy, especially when one is a Demon Lord and the other works for a Great Angel. And it's even harder when Demon Lords and Royal Knights all come close to discovering the secret. BeelzemonxKuzuhamon
1. Can't Catch a Break

**I don't own a single, gods-cursed thing, so don't bother suing me. All I own are Kuzuha's past and personality, and the idea for this tale. Yes, there'll be a bit of x-over with Yu-Gi-Oh! (Noah, because he and Labramon live in the same castle as Kuzuha-chan) This story takes place about four months (Y'know what, I'm gonna sychronize the frikin' time, because keeping the DigiWorld/Earth time ratio will just get too annoying later. No specific dates will be given - unless I have a reason) after Glutton for Punishment and a few weeks after What Times Demand. I have no idea how long I'm gonna make this, because it's also gonna be one of the first stories I post that'll be in development while I post, so don't expect daily updates like my other works. Sorry if that disappoints you, but my mind's whining at me to get this out there already, so I'll shut up and let the mayhem begin.  
Poor Beelzemon and Kuzuhamon, I've got so many plans...and it's proof that love stories don't end with 'Happily ever after'. If that isn't one of the _corniest..._shutting up now.**

**Trials and Tribulations**

**Chapter One: Can't Catch a Break**

It wasn't easy. But then again, love never was. Love is especially hard when one in the relationship was a demon Digimon and the other a holy Digimon.

It's especially so when said demon Digimon is one of the Seven Demon Lords.

It's even harder when the holy Digimon works for the Great Angels.

It's nearly impossible when the Demon Lord is a double agent who says he's a Demon Lord, but also works for the Great Angels, and thus has to constantly keep an eye out behind him.

But they'd been making it work. Beelzemon, Demon Lord of Gluttony and Kuzuhamon, servant to Lady Ophanimon of the human type Digimon had been making their relationship work for the past few months. While they couldn't be together every day, that didn't matter. The important thing was that their relationship was working and they hadn't been caught by the other Demon Lords. Or the other Royal Knights. Surprisingly, no one had bothered to tell the warriors (Alphamon excluded) about the couple.

Not that the two haven't had a few close calls……

**Somewhere in the Digital World**

Beelzemon and Kuzuhamon were sitting alone together at the summit of a warm, flat-topped mountain at night, enjoying the scenery.

"So…any of those annoying Royal Knights suspect anything yet?" Beelzemon asked. The only ones he didn't mind were Alphamon, since the leader of the bunch was taking the whole relationship between demon and fox priestess in stride, and Gallantmon. Truth be told, the Demon Lord had been surprised when he'd heard that Takato and Guilmon had been recruited as part-time members of the Royal Knights. Especially since the goggle head and the pineapple head were the last two Beelzemon would have considered 'royal'.

Fortunately for the Demon Lord, Kuzuhamon hadn't met them yet.

"No. Craniummon thinks he's close to finding _something_ out, though. Fortunately, I've been able to give him enough vague answers he's gonna leave me alone for awhile."

"That's good. I don't think any of the other Demon Lords suspect much, but I can't really be sure."

Kuzuha smiled. Her Demon Lord was always pretty cautious when it came to her safety, and she loved him for it. The fox woman rested her head on the demon's shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Then that means we can keep seeing each other."

"Which is funny, considering you tried to attack me when we first met," Beelzemon said with a grin.

"Will you stop bringing that up? I already said I was sorry!"

"Well, it's true. Not like it hurt me, though – I'm way too powerful and tough for it to have done anything."

"It didn't hurt that you were a Mega while I was a Champion," Kuzuhamon reminded him.

"Hey, you didn't even hurt me when you Digivolved to this form – which I must say is an improvement over Youkomon. Then, of course, I won you over with my charm and good looks. That, and I saved your life. Those three things sent you straight into my arms," he said confidently.

"What can I say? You're like mold – you grew on me very slowly," Kuzuha said, grinning mischievously.

"Yeah, I guess I – hey! Wait a minute!" he said, realizing he'd been insulted. Kuzuha laughed and jumped up away from him, and began running away. "Get back here!"

"Sorry Beelzemon, but you're gonna hafta catch me first!" she said, darting out of his grasp to jump over Behemoth and run towards the other end of the mountain.

It almost worked. Key word: almost.

Kuzuhamon's plan was foiled by Beelzemon's having gone into his Blast Mode and flying over to tackle and pin his girlfriend to the ground, trapping one of her arms with one hand, her other arm with his tail, and using _his_ other hand as a support for her head so it didn't hit the rock.

"You jerk! You cheated!" Kuzuhamon accused. "I can't fly like that!"

"You know you love me," Beelzemon said, all three of his emerald eyes glittering as they gazed at Kuzuha's mask covered face. The Demon Lord couldn't see her eyes in her true form, but remembered from her human one that they were amethyst violet. "And I told you that my tail had its uses."

"Showoff," Kuzuha said.

"Well, what can I say? It's in my nature," Beelzemon told Kuzuhamon before kissing her.

Things were going along just as Beelzemon hoped, until a huge explosion rocked through the forest below the mountain.

"What was that?" Kuzuha said, pulling away from the kiss.

"I have no idea, Kuzuha. It's probably some dimwit Drimogemon. Let's ignore it."

"Let me up, you big oaf," she said. Beelzemon reluctantly got up and Kuzuha ran over to where she heard the sound come from. Looking over the edge of the mountain, she saw the beginnings of a forest fire and some bad Digimon headed deeper into the brush.

"Skullsatamon!" Kuzuhamon said. "Three of them. Beelzemon, we have to go stop them!"

"All right, all right. Man, before ya know it I'm gonna wind up turning into Seraphimon," he said, summoning Berenjena to his right arm.

"That'll be a shame," Kuzuha said, grabbing her staff. "Half the fun of dating you is that you're a Demon Lord."

"I always knew you were the kinda girl attracted to danger," he smirked.

"I _am_ a 'chaos form' of one of the Tamers' Digimon," Kuzuha said before beginning to run down the path down the mountain.

Beelzemon smiled then turned to Behemoth, who was parked on the mountaintop. "I'll come back in a bit. Stay here, stay parked, and no possessing anybody. Got it?"

The sentient motorcycle didn't do anything at all, but if one looked closely at its lights, one could swear that it looked a bit sullen, like a child who was told they couldn't go outside. But it would listen to its master.

Beelzemon looked down the mountain trail. "Man, those pathetic Digimon are gonna pay for this. I never catch a break," he said in a surly voice.

The Demon Lord flew down the mountain and over to where Kuzuha was running. While the female Digimon could fly using mystic powers, she didn't know how to use them very well yet.

"Get on. It'll be faster if I fly us down."

"Okay," she said, jumping onto his back. Beelzemon turned his head to smile at his passenger then flew down to the forest.

* * *

**In case anyone's curious, the Skullsatamon are the same ones from season four (Frontier) - but I'll give them nicknames next chapter so you can tell them apart. **

**Also................................*evil laugh* Beelzemon's night didn't go as he'd originally planned. And I don't intend it to. (this story's stayin' at T, so no graphic anything for our favorite Demon Lord of Gluttony! [Plus, I suck at writing those scenes anyway]) However, I do hope to include a few more sweet (and/or embarrassing to the point of death) scenes between them.**


	2. Cuts, Bruises, and Femur

**Okay, about the Skullsatamon brothers (as seen in season 4), I have derived names for them that they'll be referred to in narrative for easy reference. The oldest Skullsatamon is Femur, the middle one is Rib, and the youngest is Skull.  
Also, while looking at the story stats, I noticed that Glutton for Punishment has over 1000 hits total. I never realized anything I created would ever be so popular.**

**Chapter Two: Cuts, Bruises, and Femur**

In the forest, the trio of Skullsatamon was smashing trees, boulders, and anything else that got in their way.

"The Skullsatamon brothers are back!" one of them laughed.

"We don't care who brought us back, how, or why, we're just happy we can rampage again!" another said.

The other didn't say anything, as he was busy taking the Fractal Codes of a bunch of Hawkmon, but he _did_ have a sadistic grin.

"Skull Hammer!" he shouted, striking the helpless Rookies and taking their Fractal Codes. "We will be rewarded immensely for our work," he said to his brothers as the DigiEggs of the Hawkmon flew off.

"You're right," the first Skullsatamon, who shall be referred to from here on as Skull, said.

"Let's destroy and take the Fractal Codes of some more stuff," the second Skullsatamon, who shall be referred to from here on as Rib, said.

"I plan on it," the third Skullsatamon, who shall go from here by the name of Femur, said. "Bone Blaster!" he shouted, striking some more Hawkmon.

"Bone Blaster!" Skull and Rib shouted, doing the same.

Meanwhile, just overhead, Beelzemon and Kuzuhamon hovered above the village, watching the carnage.

"What the heck are they doing?" Kuzuha whispered.

"Probably collecting Fractal Codes and data for Daemon. That _is _his natural evolution line," Beelzemon told her quietly.

"We have to stop them before it's too late!" she said. "It's not right that they're doing this to helpless Digimon that much weaker than they are!"

"I know. Y'know, you're really cute when you get all worked up over something."

She blushed. "Now _isn't_ the time, Beelzemon."

"Had ta try. Let's go fry some Skullsatamon," he said, landing in the forest. "You ready?"

"Yeah," she said, lifting her staff. "Let's kick their butts."

Beelzemon smiled at his girlfriend before aiming his gun. "Double Impact!" he shouted, firing the bullets.

"Kurimisha!" Kuzuhamon yelled, launching the light attack.

The two attacks hit Skull and Rib respectively, knocking the two younger brothers onto the ground.

"Who's there?!" Femur shouted, turning around to see the two standing in front of him.

"Why's a group of pathetic Skullsatamon terrorizing a bunch of Hawkmon?" Beelzemon asked. "It's not like they're a threat to ya, they're _Rookies_ for cryin' out loud. Or are ya jus' a bunch of idiots?"

"Don't you _dare_ insult me an' my brothers!" Femur shouted, brandishing his staff. "Lord Daemon will have your hide for that! He resurrected me and my brothers after Lord Lucemon's minions killed us!"

"Yeah, and? You're all still a bunch of jerks," Kuzuhamon said. "How low is your self esteem that you'll attack a bunch of Rookie Digimon? It's pathetic!"

"Shut up! When we want an opinion from a holy Digimon, much less a _female_ one, we'll ask for it. In the meantime, _shut up!_" Skull said, getting up off the ground.

"Yeah, so stop talking!" Rib said, doing the same. "Who are you two, anyway?"

"That isn't any of your business," Beelzemon said before Kuzuha could say anything. "So, you bozos gonna leave peacefully, or you gonna go back to the Dark Area in pieces?"

"Bone Blaster!" Femur, Skull, and Rib shouted in unison, attacking the two. Beelzemon dodged easily by taking to the sky, but Kuzuhamon was a bit slower, and got hit on the leg as she tried to dodge.

"Ow!" she said, clutching her leg.

"You'll seriously pay for that!" Beelzemon said, snarling at the trio of Digimon. "No one hurts my girlfriend and gets away with it!"

"And what are you gonna do?" Rib mocked.

"This," Beelzemon said coldly, leveling Berenjena at them. "Corona Destroyer!" he yelled, firing blasts at the trio. Skull and Rib were instantly defeated and their DigiEggs gone for the Village of Beginnings, but Femur managed to just barely escape the blast and run back to the Dark Area where his master waited. However, Beelzemon didn't pay attention to this as he flew down as fast as he could to Kuzuha's side, where the holy Digimon was nursing her scratched knee.

Beelzemon touched down and rushed over to her. "Are you okay?" he asked, concern in his voice.

"Yeah. It's just a scratch, thankfully. They didn't get you, did they?" she asked.

"No. I got rid of those punks," he said. _Even hurt…she's still worried about me?_

Kuzuhamon smiled up at her boyfriend from where she was sitting. He was really protective when it came to her, but the fox Digimon didn't mind much. Kuzuha liked the feeling of having someone take care of her, and loved that it was Beelzemon doing said job. "I bet you did."

"Yeah, well I _am_ a Demon Lord. Now, let's see about your leg," he told her, kneeling down to take a look at her injury. It was actually a pretty deep cut, and how Kuzuha hid her pain, Beelzemon knew he'd never know. "This isn't a scratch. Why did you lie to me?"

"Because I don't want you going on the warpath over something that'll be gone in a few days. I'm not worth _that_ much…" Kuzuhamon said, looking down.

"Don't you dare say that," he growled. "I thought we got over this stuff already."

Kuzuha looked down. She'd been having survivor's guilt since she was forced to fight her best friends and take their Fractal Codes.

The Demon Lord sighed. "Kuzuha, what you did saved them. Please, don't blame yourself anymore."

"But I –" she began, trying to stand up, but falling down with a hiss of pain.

"Kuzuha!" Beelzemon said, catching her. "Dangit, girl, you need to take better care of yourself!"

"Says you, Mr.-I-Don't-Need-Anyone," she snapped, half out of pain than anything else. Beelzemon flinched.

_Maybe it wasn't the best idea to tell her about my whole past,_ he thought, remembering his 'glory' days as Impmon, when he terrorized the park and tormented the Tamers. "I think I liked it better when you called me 'hot'."

Kuzuhamon blushed as she remembered what she'd inadvertently said to him in Hamburger Village shortly after they met. "You're impossible."

Beelzemon smiled at her impishly, then kissed her knee where she was cut, causing the fox Digimon to blush even redder. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"Tryin' ta make you feel better," Beelzemon said. "Did it work?"

"Y-yeah…th-thanks…"

He smiled up at her as the clouds passed over the moon, dimming the light, and causing the trees light up.

"What's going on?" Beelzemon said, looking around.

"TV trees…according to Mistress Nefertimon, under the right light, these trees allow one to view the human world," Kuzuhamon said.

Beelzemon looked at the trees, amazed he could have lived in the Digital World this long and not know about them. One tree in particular caught his eye, and he walked over to it, gazing into the window.

In the window, two little children were playing with their toys. When the two of them began playing with the same toy, Beelzemon flinched when it looked like they were going to fight over it. He smiled when he saw them actually get along and play with it by taking turns.

His twin Tamers were maturing.

"Who are they?" Kuzuha asked after managing to get over to where her boyfriend viewed the human world.

"The girl's Ai, the boy's Makoto – Mako for short. They're my Tamers. Twins."

"They're the ones who…"

"Used to fight constantly over me? Yeah."

Kuzuha smiled. "They're cute."

"Hey, why're you up, anyway?" Beelzemon asked. "Your knee…"

"I'm fine," Kuzuhamon said.

"Yeah, right. That's it, I'm takin' you home," he said, picking up the fox woman Digimon and flying back to where Behemoth was parked. After getting her seated on the motorcycle and turning back into his everyday 'flawed' form, Beelzemon took her back to Light Castle.

"How was your date?" Noah asked the two when they returned. The digitized human and his companion, Labramon, were outside watching the stars.

"Well, it was goin' well until some Skullsatamon showed up and hurt Kuzuha," Beelzemon told the boy who looked about twelve. It was a bit unnerving for the Demon Lord to be around the kid. Not only was Noah a genius, but he was being trained by Alphamon himself. If that wasn't enough, the 'kid' was really a man in his late teens. An accident when Noah was twelve led to the boy's mind being digitized, so his physical form was a permanent preteen's. And if all of that wasn't enough, Noah was actually the person who created Lucemon, leader of the Demon Lords.

"How badly?" Noah asked. Even though they were of two different species, Noah loved Kuzuhamon like an older sister.

"It's just my knee, guys. It's no big deal. With my powers, I'll be healed by morning."

"That isn't the point, Kuzuhamon," Labramon said. "We're your friends. You want help in?"

"Oh fine," she said.

"We figured you'd see it our way," Noah said, taking out a tiny data fragment. The thing in question was a Digi-Core. Normally they were the 'hearts' of Digimon, but some of Lady Magnadramon's experimentation with junk data had yielded something that could let Digimon Digivolve for short amounts of time. They even had different degrees of power, but enough on that for now. He leaned down and fed the Digi-Core to Labramon.

"Labramon Digivolve to……Dobermon!" he shouted, turning from a cute, fluffy dog into a Doberman the size of a large animal, with a spiked collar, who could be easily ridden. He also had blades growing out of the backs of his legs. "Get on, Kuzuhamon," the giant Champion told the tinier Mega.

"All right," she sighed. "But this is _only_ to get all of you off my case."

"Gotcha, Kuzuhamon," Noah said before easily climbing up to sit on Dobermon's neck. "Let's head inside, okay?"

"Okay. I'll see you later, Beelzemon," Kuzuha said as Dobermon began walking away.

"Bye, Kuzuha," Beelzemon said, getting back on Behemoth and riding away. He hated leaving her alone while she was hurt, even though she was with friends, and always wished one day he could stay with her.

* * *

**Okay, say it with me...........**

**_Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww............................................._**

**Because Beelzemon is always concerned with Kuzuhamon's safety. And to clarify, no, she hasn't turned emo or anything and hates herself, she feels survivor's guilt because she's still around while Chaosgallantmon/Blackagumon and Blackmegagargomon/Gazimon aren't. Technically.**

**And as for Femur and why he survived, I still have plans for him. *evil laugh***


	3. New Orders, Old Grudges

**Well, I got the five page self-imposed requirement on the master copy of the story done ahead of schedual, so now ya get a new chapter. Femur - for that's what I'm gonna be calling that last Skullsatamon - is gonna be given his new mission. I never really meant for Femur to live, but then last chapter when Beelzemon attacked and killed his brothers, Femur managed to survive. I still don't know how.**

**Chapter Three: New Orders, Old Grudges**

In the Dark Area, while Beelzemon had returned for the night, Femur had also returned there, and was talking to the Demon Lord of Wrath, Daemon.

"Skullsatamon…why did you fail?" the Demon Lord said. He was really trying to be patient with the idiotic Digimon, but he kept forgetting why he brought back the annoyance in the first place. And his infamous temper was beginning to flare up again. "And where are your brothers?"

"Two Digimon stopped us before we could finish our mission. H-here's the Fractal Code data I collected," he said, handing it over in the form of a glowing orb. "My brothers were defeated…"

Daemon took the Fractal Codes and looked with a bored expression at the inferior Digimon. "Who defeated your brothers? I thought that the Skullsatamon brothers were invincible……save for when a group of human children who can turn into Digimon, that is."

Femur flinched as he recalled the Legendary Warriors. They were responsible for him and his family's defeat the first time. "I-I don't know. They......well, it was really dark, and they wouldn't give their names. One of them _was_ female, though. We managed to hurt her, too. But that got the male angry…and…um…that's when he attacked and defeated my brothers."

Femur was never really good at remembering the little things; otherwise he would have remembered that it was bright with all three moons out and he could see his two attackers clearly. But then, he was never good with faces. Or names. He wasn't really good at remembering things, period, unless they'd made him happy.

Daemon sighed. Sometimes, it was tough, working with such inferior creatures. It irked the Demon Lord that he'd actually _Digivolved_ from a Skullsatamon now that he'd been in charge of the incompetent Ultimate in front of him. "Your next assignment is to find the identities of your attackers."

"Yes, my lord!" Femur said, leaving.

While the Skullsatamon was leaving the Dark Area, he ran into Lillithmon, who was leaving Leviamon's lake room. (You _don't_ wanna know)

"Hello, Lady Lillithmon," Skullsatamon said, walking by.

"Ah…and what's a handsome Skullsatamon doing here?" The Demon Lord of Lust asked, smiling seductively.

"I…uh…Oh! Lord Daemon gave me a mission! I'm supposed to find the killers of my brothers," Femur said, proud of himself.

"How sad…perhaps I could make you feel better…"

"I-I have to go…"

"Are you sure…?"

Skullsatamon gulped. "I……………"

Lillithmon smiled and led the Digimon back to her chambers, where Skullsatamon promptly forgot his mission. And kept it forgotten for quite the long time.

It didn't help that Lillithmon, Demon Lord of Lust, didn't differentiate between human types or beast types, or male and female.

Not like Skullsatamon cared much.

Beelzemon, on the other hand, was in his room curled up on his bed, miserable that things didn't turn out the way he wanted – again. But then, that's how it always was. Something always happened that interrupted things just as they were getting good.

_Am I cursed or something?_ He thought. _Why else can't I get enough alone time with Kuzuhamon? _

"Something wrong, Beelze?" Daemon asked from the doorway. He'd always used that shortened version of Beelzemon's name to annoy him. Some Digimons' names just didn't sound good shortened. Beelzemon's was one of them.

"Yeah. _Why are you in my room?_ The door was locked."

"You know full well that while Lucemon is being restored, I'm in charge."

"Shut up," Beelzemon said. He and Daemon had never gotten along, and for good reason - they were both natural leaders, yet Daemon was in charge while Lucemon was incapacitated. And that was something Beelzemon hated and was jealous over (at least, that's how he _acted. _In reality, he couldn't care less. But he still had that alpha personality) "Respect for others' rooms, please."

"Why? You weren't doing anything, were you?"

"No."

"Then there's no problem, is there?" Daemon said.

"Yeah, there is. This is my room, idiot."

"Have you spent any time in the human world?" Daemon asked. "You sound like one."

"I've been there. I terrorized a bunch of dumb human couples in the parks there," Beelzemon said. He could have laughed at the irony, though. There was a time when the Demon Lord hated seeing those couples, and liked to scare them every chance he got. Now…he had a girlfriend. _Huh,_ he thought, realization dawning. _Maybe that's why I don't have luck._

"You spent too much time there, I think. Deal with it and move on," The Demon Lord of Wrath said, leaving.

The Demon Lord of Gluttony watched him leave, silently mocking Daemon's words behind his back. Daemon just ignored his ally and continued walking.

_I wonder, Beelzemon……just what are you hiding……?_ Daemon thought as he continued on towards his chambers. Beelzemon was always a mystery to the other Demon Lords. For one thing, he made no motion to work with them, yet still named himself one of their group. He didn't plot or scheme, either. Instead, he just went out, destroyed a few Digimon, and came back. He also was the only one not indisposed who didn't take advantage of Lillithmon's offer. Lucemon, Demon Lord of Pride, couldn't, he was still under reconstruction – and that was slow going to say the _least_. Belphemon, Demon Lord of Sloth, couldn't either – but that's because he was in Sleep Mode. And when Belphemon wasn't in Sleep Mode, he was in Rage Mode, and no one was ready for him to go into Rage Mode yet. So that left Daemon, Barbamon, the Demon Lord of Greed, and Leviamon, the Demon Lord of Envy, to take Lillithmon up on her offers.

However, said Demon Lord of Lust had yet to show up to her meeting with Daemon.

_She's late…_he thought, annoyed. _I hate waiting._

And unfortunately, it didn't take much to set the Lord of Wrath off.

Meanwhile, quite a long ways away in Light Castle, Kuzuhamon was sitting in her room with a bandage on her knee, thinking about what had happened. That was really the first time the fox woman Digimon had picked up on the intentions of her Demon Lord boyfriend, and she was still a bit shocked that what had almost happened had almost happened.

_Did Beelzemon really want to…? _Kuzuha thought. _W-with…me? _She began blushing furiously. "Why in the Digital World do I have to be clueless about these things?" she groaned, burying her head into her pillows. This was going to take a lot more figuring out.

Over the next few days, Femur had slightly remembered what he was supposed to do and set off to find the one (or was it _ones_?) who killed his brothers. He was gonna make certain that whoever it was paid for what they did. Did he have any clues though? He wasn't entirely certain anymore……

* * *

**Yeah, this is only gonna get a lot more intense. I have plans, people and miscellaneous beings, and this is only the beginning. Please review, too. I enjoy reading those alerts in my inbox, and they're a big help to my depressingly small ego. (curse you, JROTC! I felt inferior enough as it was! I lack motivation.....tch, only for _boring_ stuff like push-ups. And only punishing _me_?! Those baka boys insulted me ten times for every _one_ I gave, and they didn't get in trouble _once!_ o.O Sorry.........venting.....)**


	4. Royal Pains

**Yeah......well, originally, I'd intended this to be two chapters, but I think that everything in this chapter corresponds to its title. I don't own anything. Never have, never will. Gods, I wish I could. And yeah, I'm using Japanese names for some, dubbed names for others. Oh, well. I'm just goin' with what I think sounds best.**

**Chapter Four: Royal Pains**

Elsewhere a few nights later, the Royal Knights of the Digital World (and Noah and Labramon) were training in their powers. The two currently sparring were Gallantmon and Duftmon.

"Black Aura Blast!" Duftmon shouted, launching the attack at the red Knight, who got hit and knocked down.

"Lightning Joust!" Gallantmon launched his attack on the feline Knight – however, Duftmon was too fast, and managed to dodge it.

"Earnest Lasher!" Duftmon called, striking again. Gallantmon barely dodged it, though.

"Yuggoth Blaster!" Gallantmon shouted, managing to hit the speedy Knight.

"Extinction Wave!" Duftmon cried, attacking Gallantmon with a broad sweep with his rapier. The energy beam fired struck Gallantmon, and in his place fell a goggle-headed boy in his early teens and a red dragon-lizard thing.

"Ow……my head hurts…" the human said.

"Me, too…can we have bread now, Takato?" the Rookie Digimon asked.

"Later, Guilmon," Takato said.

"Are we certain that letting a human join our ranks was a good idea?" a blue Digimon in gold armor said.

"Magnamon, you know Alphamon wouldn't have let them join if they didn't show much promise as Gallantmon," another blue Digimon said.

"That may be, Ulforceveedramon, but he's still a human child with an equally childish partner," Magnamon said.

"Hey, us and Imperialdramon all have human partners," a large white Digimon with a dragon's head for one hand and a wolf's head for another said.

"Oh yeah……sorry, Omnimon…" Magnamon said. They all knew that the imposing Digimon was actually a DNA Digivolution of two Digimon, each with human partners. Imperialdramon was the same case, and when they all combined to make Imperialdramon Paladin Mode, it was literally four brains being better than two. However, said founder of the Royal Knights didn't appear anymore, and wouldn't until they figured out a way for Imperialdramon to reach Paladin Mode alone.

"Y'know…" Takato said. "I really hate it when you talk about me behind my back – _especially when I'm right here,_" he said. True, he'd thought it was awesome when the black-clad Alphamon had shown up at his house, requesting that Takato be trained as a Royal Knight (even though it was only part time to accommodate school) because he could Biomerge to form Gallantmon, but having some of the others question his competence? He got that enough from Rika. _And I was one of the ones to defeat the D-Reaper! They could show a little respect! _Takato thought.

"Some of them are wary, Takato," Alphamon said. "They've never had a human partner before."

"Yeah," Noah said to Takato. "You shoulda seen how they acted when they found out I was the one who created Lucemon," he said with a rueful laugh. A tall, white Digimon with gold accents on his armor and wings looked at the 'boy' with a mix of respect and fear. Dynasmon had never quite gotten past what Lucemon had done, but at the same time respected the fallen angel. Fortunately, Dynasmon had been purified and thus wasn't going to turn evil again (though he was still a touch depressed that Crusadermon had moved to the human world to serve the human princess who'd raised her from a DigiEgg). "The only reason I'm trusted as much as I am now is because of Mistress Nefertimon."

"Are the Angels…nicer than the Sovereigns?" Takato asked, remembering Zhuqiaomon and his attitude towards humans.

"One of them is Lady Magnadramon, whom I think you know as Salamon. Lord Seraphimon and Lord Cherubimon have both had human partners, and Lady Ophanimon is Lady Magnadramon's aunt," Noah said.

"Cool," Takato said.

"Yeah, Kato-kun," Labramon said. He'd been adapting honorifics ever since Noah let him watch anime. "The Great Angels totally kick the behinds of the Sovereigns!"

"Labramon, do not speak ill of the Cardinal Guardians," a large red dragon said. "They deserve your respect as much as the Angels."

"I was just telling the truth, Lord Examon," the dog said.

"_Labramon_," Examon said.

"Sorry…"

Noah laughed at his companion's antics. Labramon was always like that, but Noah wouldn't change a thing. The canine Digimon was unshakably loyal to his non-Tamer, and he and Noah were the best of friends. Takato couldn't help but smile at them. It was funny, too – while the young non-Tamer (since Noah didn't have a D-Power) looked around Takato's age, in reality Noah was in his late teens/early twenties.

"Takatomon, I'm hungry!" Guilmon said.

"Okay, okay!"

"Let's go to Light Castle, Takato. There's enough food there for Guilmon," Noah said, feeding Labramon a Digi-Core to get him to Digivolve to Dobermon so they could ride back to the castle.

Once there, Noah showed the other two Digimon around the building. There wasn't much to see, but that was because the castle was mostly a library. In one such room, a certain chaos version of a certain other Digimon was filing books away.

"Sakuyamon?" Takato asked. "I thought you were on Earth…"

"Huh? Oh, another human," Kuzuha said. She got a good look at Digimon and Tamer, and realized who they were immediately. "My name is Kuzuhamon," she said with a bow.

"I'm Takato, and this is Guilmon," Takato said. He was having a hard time placing Kuzuha. He _knew_ he'd seen the Mega before somewhere……

"Hi, Kuzuhamon. You look a lot like Sakuyamon," Guilmon said.

"I've been told that," she said. "New friends, Noah?"

"Part time Royal Knights," Noah said.

"We Biomerge to form Gallantmon," Takato said proudly before realizing what his partner was up to. "Guilmon! Don't eat the books!"

"Sorry…"

"Yeah, Guilmon, Mistress Nefertimon doesn't like anyone eating her books," Kuzuha said, walking away to go back to her job. The name 'Gallantmon' had struck a chord with the Digimon woman – and it wasn't a good one. Old memories surged as she walked away. Takato stared at her retreating form.

"_That's _where I've seen you before!" Takato said. "The pizza place! You look a lot different now that you're a Digimon."

"Huh?"

"You were with Beelzemon," Takato said. "I was there with my friends, and we saw you. True, you were a human then, but I recognize you."

"You know Beelzemon?" Kuzuha asked.

"Yeah. He's an old……friend of mine."_ Even though he tried to kill me and Guilmon… _"How do you know Beelzemon?"

"He …uh…he and I……um…"

"Kuzuhamon is Beelzemon's girlfriend," Labramon said bluntly. Kuzuhamon turned beet red.

"Labramon!" she said. "You didn't have to say it so bluntly!"

"What? It's true! So, I'm allowed to talk about it, just not bluntly?" Labramon asked.

Kuzuhamon groaned and walked away, embarrassed beyond belief.

"Noah, Takato, what's wrong with her?" Guilmon asked.

"Kuzuhamon and Beelzemon's relationship is kinda a secret," Noah said. "Since Beelzemon's one of the Demon Lords, and all…"

"Demon Lord?" Takato asked.

"Yeah, Kato-kun. The Seven Demon Lords represent the seven deadly sins of western religion. Beelzemon's is gluttony – which is probably why he has to see Kuzuhamon so much," Labramon said. "And their goal is the destruction or conquest of the Digital World – whichever comes first."

"You remind me of Terriermon," Takato said.

"Oh……whatever," the canine shrugged. "At least I'm an actual dog and not a bunny."

"Where's the food?"

"Follow me," Noah said to Guilmon, leading Tamer and Digimon to the kitchens where Kuzuha was eating. There was quite a bit of food on the table, and Guilmon happily attacked it.

"Wow, he wasn't kiddin' when he said he was hungry," Labramon said.

Takato smiled, and then walked over to Kuzuhamon.

"I'm not gonna tell the other Knights, if that's why you didn't want me to know. No one takes me seriously except Alphamon and Omnimon."

"Alphamon's the only one who knows besides you…of the Royal Knights," Kuzuha said.

"Who all knows?"

"Lord Alphamon, you and Guilmon, Noah, Labramon, the Great Angels, Mistress Nefertimon, and Princess Nyaromon," Kuzuha said.

"Wow…don't worry, I'm not gonna say a word to anyone about you and Beelzemon. But I have to ask…why aren't the Angels a little more……upset that Beelzemon's dating you? I mean, yeah, he'd reformed by the time we beat the D-Reaper, but……if he's one of the Demon Lords…"

"Beelzemon's a spy for us," a winged sphinx said from the other end of the hall. "He owed my eldest a few favors from battles past, and now he helps us keep tabs on the others. His love for Kuzuhamon is an even greater reason for him to help us, for he wants nothing more than to be with her and not have to fear her getting hurt."

"You're Nefertimon, aren't you?" Takato asked.

"Yes. You must be Takato, making your friend Guilmon – you are both Lord Gallantmon," Nefertimon said.

Kuzuhamon looked down at her plate.

"What's wrong with Kuzuhamon?" Guilmon asked.

"She's…dealt with a lot recently," Nefertimon said.

"Oh……"

"It's all right," Kuzuha said, getting up to leave. "You can tell Takato and Guilmon."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes, Mistress Nefertimon," Kuzuha said, leaving.

Nefertimon watched Kuzuha leave and then relayed the tale of Kudamon, Blackagumon, and Gazimon to the Tamer and his partner.

"Wow…" Takato said after Nefertimon finished speaking. "I can't believe that anyone would do that…"

"Yes……and it's why Kuzuhamon is sad…she lives with the guilt of defeating and reverting her friends to DigiEggs," Nefertimon said.

"So……if Barbamon brainwashed her friends, then why did she start dating Beelzemon? He's a Demon Lord, too."

"That……is something that is best left to Kuzuha to say," Nefertimon said, leaving. Takato shrugged and went back to supervise his Digimon – who was gobbling down the food as fast as Digimon-ly possible.

Neither Tamer nor Digimon heard the rumble of the motorcycle engine approach the castle over the sound of Guilmon's eating.

However, upstairs, Kuzuhamon's face brightened up at the sound of Behemoth's engine coming closer to the building. The violet fox woman ran downstairs to the source of the sound and gleefully ran outside to it.

"Hey, Kuzuhamon," Beelzemon said. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," she said, hugging him. The Demon Lord smiled at her…

That is, until a certain goggle-headed Tamer and his equally pineapple-headed Digimon walked out of the castle to see where the noise had come from.

"Well," Takato said. "At least it wasn't your stomach again, Guilmon. That's a good thing, too. We don't want you eating all of Light Castle's food, right?"

Guilmon didn't answer, as he was munching on a cookie.

"Oh great, not _you_ two!" Beelzemon growled. "What're you doin' in the Digital World? And where are your annoying friends?"

"They're on Earth…" Takato said, annoyed at the Demon Lord.

"Um……they're Lord Gallantmon…" Kuzuha said quietly.

"Lord…as in……Royal Knight?" Beelzemon said, putting two and two together.

She nodded.

The Demon Lord groaned in exasperation. "Why _you_? Out of all the Tamers…_why you?_"

"Lord Alphamon showed up at my house a few weeks ago to ask my parents if I could train with the other Knights. He said that the others needed the power of Gallantmon."

Beelzemon was twitching.

"Is something wrong?" Guilmon asked.

"Hey, Kuzuha, could you maybe……go back inside for a minute…?" Beelzemon asked.

"Sure," she said, leaving the trio alone. She had no idea if that was a mistake or not.

When he was certain that she was out of earshot, the Demon Lord growled at the Tamer, "If you _dare_ mess up my relationship with Kuzuhamon, I'm gonna make you eat your goggles – _DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?_"

"Y-yeah…" Takato said.

Beelzemon smirked at the quivering human and walked inside. A few minutes later, he and Kuzuha walked back out, the two talking quietly. Before Takato could say anything to the Demon Lord Digimon, Beelzemon had already gotten himself and Kuzuha onto Behemoth and sped away into the darkness.

Takato just stared after them, then followed Guilmon back inside to keep the forever hungry dragon from eating everything in sight.

* * *

**Yeah......I think that what Beelzemon said speaks for itself. Sorry if you miss my usual witty remarks, but I'm running on only a couple hours of sleep. But the _point_ is that I got the chapter up safely.**


	5. Too Close for Comfort

**Ah...another five pages on the master copy done, so here's a new chapter! And Beelzemon and Kuzuhamon-chan are gonna deal with a lot of stuff this chapter. Namely from some other Royal Knights. But why spoil things? Enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to leave a review on the way out.**

**Chapter Five: Too Close for Comfort**

Beelzemon and Kuzuhamon eventually came upon a wide, open meadow, and the Demon Lord stopped Behemoth. The two dismounted the motorcycle and sat down together on the grassy hill.

"So……what's your problem with Takato and Guilmon?" Kuzuha asked her often prickly and short-tempered (but never to_ her_) boyfriend.

"He and his friends annoyed me all to the Dark Area when I was living on Earth. In the end, I helped them, but…it took me a bit to want to…" he said, trailing off. Kuzuha knew what he was talking about. A week after…the incident with Chaosgallantmon and Blackmegagargomon, Beelzemon had told Kuzuhamon about his past – including killing Leomon, the partner of one of Takato's friends. He still regretted that choice to this very day.

"I get it," Kuzuha said, hugging him. Beelzemon smiled at the smaller Mega; one of the things he loved about her was that she didn't judge him by his mistakes, but rather by what he did to correct them.

"They still annoy me, though," he added, not wanting to seem too soft.

Kuzuha laughed. "Of course. So…what're the other Tamers like? Or, at least, 'those annoying brats' you keep talking about?"

"Well, you've met goggle head and pineapple head, and I told you about Jeri. Henry…he's…well, he's a serious kid, and his annoying partner Terriermon is one seriously irritating rabbit. They Biomerge to make Megagargomon. Then there's Rika and her partner, Renamon. Rika's the kind who goes into battle first and asks questions later, and Renamon's _waaaaaaaaaaaaay_ too serious for her own good. Their Biomerge form is Sakuyamon – she's the one that looks like you," Beelzemon told Kuzuhamon.

"And you're dating _me_…" Kuzuha said before getting such a mischievous grin on her face, it made Beelzemon proud. "So does that mean you had a crush on Sakuyamon? Or was it just Renamon?" she said, giggling. However, deep down, she'd be extremely jealous if he said yes.

"That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Beelzemon said. "Rika's a human, and that would just be wrong, and Renamon's _way_ too high-strung for me to like her. _You_, Kuzuhamon, actually _like_ to relax – but not in an annoying way like the other four. All the other Tamers I can take or leave – so long as they leave me alone," he told her. Beelzemon didn't have to explain about Ai and Makoto, since he'd already told her about his twin Tamers. "Aww…are you _jealous_, Kuzuha?"

"Not a chance!" she said. "Who'd wanna be jealous when it comes to _you?_" she said, trying to hide her blush. Unfortunately, Beelzemon could see perfectly in the dark, and he saw her face turn red.

"Well, there's_ you_," Beelzemon said, hugging her. "Don't even try to deny it, either – I see you blushing."

"Curse you and your night vision," she said.

"You don't mean that – do you?"

Kuzuha smirked.

"You enjoy making me squirm, huh?" Beelzemon said, going to kiss Kuzuhamon.

Unfortunately, such things never did get to occur, as footsteps and voices could start being heard.

"I wonder what makes Alphamon so certain we have an edge against the Demon Lords?" one male Digimon said. "Every time we've fought them, they've had some ace up their sleeves."

"I have no idea, Sleipmon," the other male voice said. "Even with the addition of Gallantmon to our ranks, defeating them may be an impossible task – Beelzemon and Daemon are two of the more ruthless members."

"Yet he hasn't attacked so much," Sleipmon said with a puzzled tone. "It's really confusing, Craniummon. All our battles with Beelzemon haven't really been battles…it's more like he's making sure we're strong," the six-legged horse Digimon said. It was really quite confusing that he was a horse – especially since his Rookie form was a _fox_. The Digimon clad in red armor with a crossbow strapped to his left arm turned to look at his companion, Craniummon, who was clad in Black Digizoid – the strange metal of their world – and carried a double-ended spear.

"That is indeed confusing. I wonder just what Beelzemon is scheming," the spear-wielding Digimon wondered. "It's like he _doesn't_ want to fight us."

The two Royal Knights continued talking about that as they walked ever closer to the meadow.

"Well, crud," Beelzemon whispered. "If too many of the Knights find out about my being on their side, they won't fight me. And that'll make the other Demon Lords suspicious. I have to go hide."

"I know," Kuzuha said. "I'll signal you when they're gone."

Beelzemon smiled at his co-conspirator. They were a perfect match. "Behemoth, go hide on the far side of the meadow and be quiet about it!" he ordered his motorcycle before morphing into Blast Mode and flying up high enough to escape sight. Behemoth did as his master ordered, and hid behind some rocks. It was just in time, too, as Craniummon and Sleipmon walked into the meadow at the exact moment Behemoth finished hiding.

"Lord Craniummon, Lord Sleipmon," Kuzuhamon said, looking for all the DigiWorld like she was merely spending an evening staring at the stars. "How are the two of you this evening?"

"Good evening, Kuzuhamon," Sleipmon said. "We're fine. And you?"

"Perfectly fine. Mistress Nefertimon let me off work early so I could watch the stars."

"It's a bit dangerous out lately, though. And you're a ways away from Light Castle. We should escort you to Lord Seraphimon's castle so you can stay there for the night."

"I'm fine. I can take care of myself," she said.

"Considering that you're the chaos version of Sakuyamon, you're still Barbamon's target. Especially now that you have the Fractal Codes of your friends," Craniummon said.

"I'm fine," Kuzuhamon said, getting more annoyed. Sometimes the Royal Knights could be a bit overbearing.

Another presence thought so, too. What Kuzuha didn't know when Beelzemon left, was that he doubled back around to perch in a tree so he could make sure that she was okay. Just because he was on the same side as the Royal Knights (even though most of them didn't know it) didn't mean he trusted them. At heart, he still was one of the Demon Lords – even if he didn't act like one most of the time. But it annoyed the heck out of Beelzemon that the Knights didn't think Kuzuha was strong – the Demon Lord had trained her himself! And taking Kuzuha to Forest Castle would take her out of Beelzemon's sight – and therefore, his protection.

_Stupid Royal Knights…think they could do a better job protecting Kuzuha than me…duh, that's right, they don't know about our relationship. I wish I could just go over there and tell them to leave her alone…_he thought, getting more annoyed by the second.

"It is still dangerous," Sleipmon said. He then suddenly tilted his head over to the cluster of trees where Beelzemon was hiding. "Come out where I can see you, spy."

Beelzemon decided not to move.

_Please, Beelzemon, don't do anything foolish…_Kuzuhamon thought.

"I see that you don't want to reveal yourself, spy," Craniummon said. "Then it's the hard way. End Waltz!" he shouted, spinning his trusted spear, Claíomh Solais, to send a shockwave that hit Beelzemon's tree. It took all of Kuzuha's self-discipline to not scream in horror as the attack blasted the tree to pieces and made Beelzemon take flight in order to avoid the attack.

The Demon Lord gracefully spiraled down and landed, wings flaring behind him as his tail swished back and forth and he had Berenjena – which was now attached to his arm – raised in a defensive stance. All three of his emerald eyes glittered dangerously in the darkness as he stared at the three holy Digimon. Craniummon and Sleipmon brought their weapons up, ready to attack the virus Digimon. Kuzuha just stared with what she knew was a dimwit expression on her face as she felt her mouth go dry and her heart rate increase to triple its normal rate as she saw her boyfriend practically brimming with power. The sight of that barely made her able to think.

This, of course, wasn't lost on Beelzemon. _Huh. So……_this_ is her little turn-on. I better remember this for later._ "Listen, guys, I was just on my way home. Why don't we all just handle this like grown Digimon?"

"Why should we? You'll only shoot us in the backs the minute we turn away," Sleipmon said.

"I'm not _that_ evil – especially when it comes to _weaker_ Digimon," he taunted. But then, anyone who interrupted one of his dates with Kuzuhamon was going to regret it – no matter _who_ they were.

"Idiot Demon Lord," Craniummon said. "We outnumber you three to one. Right, Kuzuhamon?"

"Yeah, that's right," she said. _Oh, _now_ you think I'm strong enough? What, I can't fight a Bakemon without one of you holding my hand, but when it comes to a_ Demon Lord_, suddenly I'm as strong as Justimon himself? Thanks a lot, guys!_

"I can still take you," Beelzemon said.

Sleipmon pointed his crossbow, Muspelheim, at Beelzemon. "I wouldn't count on it. Bifrost!" he shouted, sending white-hot arrows at the Demon Lord.

"End Waltz!" Craniummon shouted, spinning Claíomh Solais again and sending another shockwave.

Kuzuha just stood there, unable to move. She didn't want to make the Royal Knights suspicious of her, but not at the risk of hurting her boyfriend.

And, naturally, Beelzemon dodged both attacks. "Double Impact!" he shouted, firing two blasts and hitting the two Knights. "Guess it was only two to one."

"Kuzuhamon…" Sleipmon said, looking over at the fox woman.

"I-I choked…I'm sorry."

"Why didn't you attack Kuzuhamon? She's physically the weakest," Craniummon said.

"And? I don't attack those weaker than me. That's not fair. I _do_ have a set of morals, ya know," he said.

"Hard to believe, with you being a backstabbing Digimon and all," Sleipmon said.

"B-_backstabbing?!_ Hey, you attacked me, two to one! _That's _not fair!_ And_ you attacked _first!_"

"Because you and yours would enslave the Digital World along with the human one," Sleipmon said.

"Man, you're shortsighted," he muttered. "Whatever. I'm outta here," Beelzemon said, taking off. He'd already given the signal for Behemoth to go back into the forest a ways so they weren't suspicious.

"What happened, Kuzuhamon?" Craniummon asked.

"I……I just choked. I'm really sorry. He's intimidating."

"That's why you're meant to stay at Lady Ophanimon's castle, Kuzuhamon," Sleipmon said. "But it's too far to get to tonight. We'll take you to Lord Seraphimon's. We were headed there anyway."

"All right…" she said, following the two. _Good night, Beelzemon, _she thought out into the darkness.

Up in the sky, Beelzemon watched his girlfriend leave. _Bye, Kuzuha,_ he thought, annoyed beyond belief that their date had been cut short so cruelly. Sighing, he shifted back into his normal Mega form, got back on Behemoth, and headed back to the Dark Area.

_Why does this stuff happen to _me? He thought sullenly as he went back.

* * *

**Yeah...I'm certain that the Knights _meant_ well when they said what they did about Kuzuhamon, but they see all Demon Lords as evil beings who kill the weakest first. (though when it came to fighting Beelzemon, suddenly she was one of the most powerful. Yeah.) Poor Beelzemon and Kuzuhamon, they need a vacation. Unfortunately, they aren't gonna get one any time soon.  
And as for some other things in this chapter regarding Kuzuhamon's questions about the other Tamers and their Digimon, and about Rika/Renamon/Sakuyamon in particular, I'm not trying to bash the pairing. _I_ just don't think that it's plausible, given their personalities. My apologies if I've offended.**


	6. Separation and Irritation

**Man, this was a fast update......especially since I've been in a private message conversation with someone pretty much all day. Okay, to start things off, I don't own a thing. Digimon isn't mine, and I will never claim as such. To now address a review brought up last chapter - since it's anonymous, I have to say it here. Eldarion, I picked Kuzuhamon's Rookie stage as Kudamon _deliberately_, to separate her from Renamon. I know full well what Kudamon normally Digivolve to, but this one is different. She's the style of the one in Savers/Data Squad, but with purple markings and eyes. Because this Kudamon's a girl, she has a bit more of a feminine line than the male one. (if season 5 gets to make a male Biyomon, then I can have a female Kudamon). Okay. Also, thanks to Bookworm Gal for her info. It is being used currently in the Master Copy of the story. I appreciate it.  
NOW ON WITH THE CHAPTER!**

**Chapter Six: Separation and Irritation**

In the Dark Area/Dark Ocean beach area, Beelzemon walked through the halls of the castle with an annoyed look on his face. The good thing about being a Demon Lord was that if he _did_ look exceedingly angry, everyone just left him alone. So, unopposed, the Demon Lord of Gluttony strode to his room – at least, except for a Skullsatamon bumping into him. Beelzemon just brushed by him.

"S-sorry!" Femur said to the imposing virus Digimon. _Why does he look so familiar? Wait, _duh_, Skullsatamon – he's a Demon Lord. You've seen him every day!_ Femur thought, not even realizing that he'd just apologized to the one who killed his brothers.

Beelzemon walked into his room and scanned it, making sure that Lillithmon wasn't in there. She wasn't, but he _did_ hear……

"Witchmon, get out of my room," Beelzemon snapped.

"Aww!" the red clad Digimon whined, crawling out from under his bed. She was wearing rather……shall we say, _skimpy_ clothes. "I just wanted ta see if ya wanted to……ya know…"

"With _you?_ Not a chance. Get out of my room, brat," he said, picking her up by the scruff of her neck and throwing her out of his room.

"Meanie!" Witchmon shouted as he closed the door in her face and locked it. Even though she was Champion level, she had the mental stability of an over emotional teenage girl. Groaning in irritation, Witchmon left the area with a stomp.

Beelzemon just shook his head sadly as he got ready for bed. _Man, why does Witchmon act like a teenage girl – and a fourteen-year-old one at that?_

Sighing, Beelzemon flopped into his bed and stared out at the inky sky. That's when he heard someone enter his room. Of course, it could be no other. Who else could have gotten access to everyone's rooms?

Daemon walked over to Beelzemon and said, "You're hurt. Mind explaining how that happened, Beelzemon? I like my warriors in peak condition."

"So I got into a miniature fight. It's no big deal."

"With who?"

"A couple of Royal Knights."

"Are they dead?"

"No. It was a minor battle and they ran off when the fight endangered some other random Digimon who couldn't take care of herself," Beelzemon said, making a mental note to _never_ let Kuzuha know he said that.

"And you didn't target her……why?"

"I don't fight anyone weaker than I am, Daemon. You already know that. I won't get stronger if I fight weaklings all the time."

"Sometimes the easiest kills are the most profitable. You risk less."

"You also gain less, too, Daemon," Beelzemon pointed out.

"Perhaps…maybe we should put our theories to the test sometime."

"Maybe we should."

"All right, then," the Demon Lord of Wrath told the Demon Lord of Gluttony before leaving. Beelzemon hated it when Daemon acted like he was ruler of the Dark Area.

"Stupid jerk," Beelzemon muttered, turning so his back was to the window. Not like a window did anyone much good in the Dark Area – there was no light. Sighing, Beelzemon let his thoughts drift._ I wish Kuzuhamon could be here,_ he thought, unable to keep himself from picturing what Kuzuha would look like asleep next to him. While in the midst of these thoughts, Beelzemon was completely unaware when he fell asleep.

Meanwhile, at Forest Castle, Sleipmon, Kuzuhamon, and Craniummon had all arrived at the entrance to the crystalline building. Craniummon knocked on the door and it opened to reveal a short Digimon dressed in light blue clothes with a matching hat, and carrying a staff with a snowflake top.

"Good evening, Sorcermon," Craniummon said. "We found Kuzuhamon from Light Castle nearby and thought that she should stay here for the night and go home in the morning."

"All right then," the Champion level Digimon said, stepping aside to allow the three in. "Lord Seraphimon won't have a problem with it," Sorcermon said.

Kuzuha slowly followed the two Knights and servant into the main hall where Seraphimon was talking to Ulforceveedramon. Sorcermon quietly walked up to his master and explained the situation. The Great Angel nodded and turned to the younger Mega.

"Hello, Kuzuhamon," he said. "Sorcermon told me what happened. If you could but wait a few minutes, I'll have Sorcermon show you to a room for the night."

"Thank you, Lord Seraphimon," Kuzuha said, bowing.

Seraphimon inclined his head and began speaking to Sorcermon. Ulforceveedramon walked over to where Kuzuha was standing.

"You were attacked by Beelzemon?" he asked, concern in his red eyes. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Kuzuhamon inwardly groaned. That particular Royal Knight had gotten a massive crush on the fox priestess – even knowing who she was and why she was in Mega form. Since meeting her, Ulforceveedramon had steadily been trying to impress her and get her to like him. Unfortunately, not only did Kuzuha _not_ have romantic feelings for Ulforceveedramon (she liked him as a friend, though), but she couldn't tell the Knight why she couldn't be with him. There was nothing _wrong_ with the draconian Royal Knight, but if she told Ulforceveedramon she didn't like him the way he wanted, he'd ask why and Kuzuha couldn't give the real reason.

"I'm perfectly fine, Lord Ulforceveedramon," Kuzuhamon said. "He attacked Lord Sleipmon and Lord Craniummon, not me."

"Still, if Beelzemon ever tries to hurt you, he's getting an Ulforce Saber to the skull! Those Demon Lords are cruel, emotionless monsters, and they need to be taken out. I still don't understand why Lord Seraphimon won't let us attack them, I'm sick of playing catch-up."

"I'm certain that Lord Seraphimon has his reasons," Kuzuha said, trying to temper her anger at Ulforceveedramon's insulting her boyfriend. "It'll be fine."

"I know, but it's just……the Demon Lords have hurt you so much, Kuzuhamon, it's making me so irritated!" he pulled Kuzuhamon into a hug. "I want to defeat them so you don't have to be sad anymore."

Kuzuhamon didn't do or say anything. _What can I do?_ She thought._ He won't understand or accept the truth. _

"Lord Ulforceveedramon, if you could kindly let go of Kuzuhamon, since I have to show her to a room for the night," Sorcermon said to the Knight. For that, Kuzuha could have hugged the spellcaster Digimon.

"All right," he said, doing so reluctantly.

"Good night, Lord Ulforceveedramon," Kuzuhamon said, inclining her head to the Knight before following Sorcermon out of the room.

The spellcaster Digimon eventually led her to a room overlooking the forest, the light from all three moons glittering off the crystal walls of the room. Kuzuha was dazzled by the beauty of the chamber, but there was only one thing that outstripped the room in its splendor. One thing that, if it were in the room, it would be complete.

"Do you like the room, Kuzuhamon?" Sorcermon asked.

"Yeah. Thanks, Sorcermon. Oh, and tell Lord Seraphimon I said thank you."

"Not a problem, Kuzuhamon, I'll be sure to pass that along," Sorcermon said before leaving. _I wonder……why did she look so sad when I showed her the room? Hm…I wonder if Kuzuhamon is okay…_

Kuzuha looked sadly around the room. True, it was beautiful, but…there was one thing missing from it. One thing that would make the room perfect.

"Beelzemon, I wish you were here," Kuzuhamon whispered. She could just imagine the Demon Lord in the room, in his true form, a perfect complement to the beauty of the crystal. She could even almost feel him in the room with her, his arms wrapped around her shoulders. _What am I thinking, he can't be here……if he was……then either Beelzemon's cover will be blown, or the Knights will think I'm a traitor._

Kuzuha sighed as she curled up in the bed, her dreams filled with a black winged Demon Lord who protected her.

The next morning, Sleipmon took Kuzuhamon back to Light Castle, and explained what he and Craniummon had thought happened – especially detailing on the battle with Beelzemon.

"Thank you for bringing her home," Ophanimon said to the horse-like Digimon.

"Not a problem, my lady," Sleipmon said before flying away.

Ophanimon smiled at the retreating Knight, then turned to Kuzuhamon. "All right, what really happened last night, Kuzuhamon?"

Kuzuha told the Angel about what she and Beelzemon were doing (but not _all_ of it), and how he'd tried to just leave without fighting the Knights.

"Ah, they found him there because that's where you and Beelzemon were on your date," Ophanimon said.

"Yes, Lady Ophanimon," Kuzuha said.

"The two of you need to be a bit more careful next time," Ophanimon said. "We can't _dare_ risk our one advantage against the other Demon Lords. But enough of that. Breakfast has been prepared already, why don't you get something to eat?"

"I will, thank you," Kuzuha said, going to get some food. Once in the dining area, the fox Digimon told Noah and Labramon about what had happened the previous night.

The next few days passed with little incident, and everything settled into a quiet lull. The Demon Lords schemed, and the Royal Knights trained; and everything went on as calmly as it could in the Digital World.

That is, until a particular 'day' in the Dark Area.

* * *

**Yeah, yeah, I know. Cliffhangers suck. But I like this line. I'm proud of it. And it wouldn't fit in the beginning of next chapter, so you're all gonna have to come up with your conspiracy theories on your own. Yes, I'm evil. I've known this since I was twelve.  
Ah...poor Ulforceveedramon...he's lost the battle and doesn't even know it.**

**Oh, and to anyone celebrating - Happy Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for the reviews I've gotten on this story, and any others to come (hint, hint).**


	7. Attack and Defense

**Ah, another chapter of this tale...Fair warning, though, this will get a bit blush-worthy. Don't worry, it's not...intense, but it's about as far as I'm pushing the 'Romance' part of this. But why spoil it? I'll let you read for yourselves.**

**Chapter Seven: Attack and Defense**

It was bright there. In the perpetual darkness, it was bright as all heck. The darkness shone like a dead star.

That should have been Beelzemon's first clue there was something extremely wrong. It is never bright in a perpetually dark area unless something is going to go horribly, horribly wrong.

Especially if you're a Digimon who's dressed like a biker, owns a sentient motorcycle, and have a fondness for guns.

"Oh crud," Beelzemon muttered that 'afternoon' when he realized that something was going to happen to him.

"Gehenna Flame!" a voice shouted out, sending a bright, shiny blast of black fire (gods, I love the irony!) straight for Beelzemon's back. The Demon Lord of Gluttony dodged the attack and whirled around to face his attacker.

"Okay, who's there, and why are you attacking me?" Beelzemon snarled.

"My name is Murmuxmon," the Digimon said. He had a long, black tail, blue draconian legs and arms, red wings, gold, bird-like armor, red bat wings, and his head was covered by a green cloth thing and a mask was on his face. "Recently, I've been watching all of you Demon Lords, and I have come to the conclusion that you're just not cut out for the job, Lord Beelzemon," he said.

"Oh, and you're qualified to take my place?"

"My thirst for power is indeed as great – if not _greater_ – than yours. And, as of late, I've noticed that you don't seem to even care about the greater goals of the Demon Lords," Murmuxmon said scathingly.

"Hello, I'm the Demon Lord of _Gluttony?_ All the best things in life and all that? Besides, all the Demon Lords do when they're not 'helping' each other is scheming against everyone else."

"It's quite funny, really, how we're both so different and yet so similar."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, considering that both our Rookie forms are Impmon," Murmuxmon said.

_Man, and I thought I was one of a kind…oh well._ "What's your point?" Beelzemon asked.

"It's obvious my hunger for power is greater than yours. I rose as fast as I could through my Champion and Ultimate levels, and now I can take my rightful place. Gehenna Flame!" he shouted, sending the attack at the Demon Lord. Beelzemon neatly dodged it and pulled out one of his guns.

"Quick Shot!" he shouted, firing a speedy bullet at the potential usurper. The attack hit Murmuxmon straight in the arm. "I skipped both those levels and went from Rookie to Mega, you idiot," he growled. "Now get out of here and leave me alone!"

"Yes, but you won't do whatever it takes to _keep_ it! Phelesmon, now!"

"Demon's Shout!" A red and black devil Digimon carrying a red pitchfork shouted. The attack slammed Beelzemon in back, stunning the Demon Lord.

"What the heck?"

"I am Phelesmon, pathetic Digimon. I am the main servant to Murmuxmon, the _new_ Demon Lord of Gluttony."

"That's only if you get approval from Daemon, loser."

"That can be arranged," Murmuxmon said. "Gehenna Flame!"

"Demon's Shout!" Phelesmon yelled, launching his attack.

The two attacks struck Beelzemon at the same time, knocking him to the ground.

"You losers are _so_ gonna pay for that……" he growled before shifting into Blast Mode. "Corona Destroyer!" he shouted, launching the attack at both Digimon, the fiery energy illuminating the darkness. The attack burned Beelzemon's two opponents and sent them spiraling into the Dark Ocean.

Beelzemon just smirked at the fading ripples in the black water and began to fly away.

_I don't wanna be a Demon Lord, but I need to stay here if I'm gonna bring them down,_ he thought as he flew. While lost in his thoughts, Beelzemon didn't notice a burst of water rise up behind him. Nor did the Demon Lord see Phelesmon fly right up under him until it was too late.

"Black Statue!" he shouted, shoving the pitchfork into Beelzemon's stomach.

Beelzemon growled in pain as he managed to get away from the Digimon. However, one of the pitchfork tips remained embedded in Beelzemon's body. The Demon Lord clutched his stomach as he stared at Phelesmon. Snarling, he leveled Berenjena at Phelesmon. "Death Slinger!" he roared, sending a dark bullet that smashed right through Phelesmon's body, giving him a mortal wound.

"Y-you…will suffer……" Phelesmon choked out. "I have poisoned you, and without the antidote, you will die."

"Then I'll take your Fractal Code and survive," Beelzemon snarled. Before he could though, Phelesmon shattered it himself, ensuring that not only it couldn't be absorbed, but that he also wouldn't be reborn as a DigiEgg.

"All hail Lord Murmuxmon……" Phelesmon whispered with his final breath before his data scattered and was absorbed by the darkness.

"What was that all about? Poisoned? Like I buy that," he scoffed, flying back down to his room. Maybe the window wasn't so useless after all.

Beelzemon was about to sit down when he felt a sharp pain ripping through his abdomen. The Demon Lord hissed in pain as the poison began to take effect.

"Okay, so maybe……Phelesmon wasn't bluffing after all…" he said. Beelzemon walked downstairs and to the one place in the whole World of Darkness that wasn't visited by the other Demon Lords. The garage. None of the other Demon Lords used it, and the only reason they had it was so Beelzemon could keep Behemoth there (and the motorcycle refused any and all other riders – unless it was Kuzuhamon, then it made an exception). Beelzemon got on the motorcycle and said to it, "Get me to Light Castle. Back roads only. You know what to do – augh!" he said before passing out from the pain and poison. Behemoth revved up and took its master to his destination, driving as fast as it could without hurting Beelzemon more or being seen.

Eventually, Behemoth found the Castle. Gently setting his master onto the white flowers – which were stained black by the poison seeping out of his wound – Behemoth began riding around the castle in a panic, making as much noise as he could to draw the attention of _anyone_.

"Behemoth?" Kuzuha said, walking outside to see the motorcycle in what could only be described as a panic. "What's wrong? Where's Beelzemon?"

Behemoth rode around behind Kuzuhamon so that when it charged forward, she was picked up and set into the seat. It drove around to the side of the castle to show Kuzuhamon her boyfriend lying unconscious on the ground.

"Beelzemon!" Kuzuha shouted, running up to him. She kneeled by his side and gasped when she saw his wound. "Beelzemon! Beelzemon, what happened? Please wake up…" she said, beginning to cry.

A small cough caught Kuzuhamon's attention, and she looked down into the weary face of her boyfriend.

"Where……?"

"It's okay, Beelzemon. You're safe now," she said soothingly to him. Beelzemon drifted back off to sleep. "Lady Ophanimon! Mistress Nefertimon! Noah! Labramon! Help me!" she cried out.

The angel and beast angel sisters were the ones who heard Kuzuhamon's cry for help and flew down.

"What's wrong?" Ophanimon asked.

"Beelzemon's hurt!" she said. "Please, help me get him inside!" Kuzuha pleaded with the two.

"I'll carry him," Nefertimon said, the scene bringing up painful memories of an injured Wizardmon. _Kuzuhamon and Beelzemon will_ not_ suffer like Wizardmon and I did! _She thought.

Ophanimon and Kuzuha managed to carefully lift the Demon Lord onto Nefertimon's back, and the feline angel carefully carried Beelzemon upstairs to Kuzuha's room. The angel and the fox woman then moved him into Kuzuha's bed.

"Kuzuhamon, stay here," Nefertimon said. "Sister, could you go get some bandages for him?"

"Yes," Ophanimon said, leaving.

"I'll go find Noah and tell him to make some soup for when Beelzemon wakes up," Nefertimon said. Before she left, she added, "Why don't you get him ready for when my sister comes back with the bandages?"

"O-okay…" Kuzuhamon said, face turning red as the winged cat left. _His wound is on his stomach. Th-that m-means……I-I have to……_Kuzuha gulped as she realized what she had to do. _Okay……I can be grown up about this…_she thought as she tried to figure out what to remove first. _Gloves! I will remove his gloves! _Kuzuha decided, slowly and carefully removing the grey claw tipped black gloves. She was surprised to see that his hands were the same light blue as his face. She picked one of them up and studied it. _It's……warm…surprising since it's blue. Wait! Getting back to the matter at hand…_Kuzuha snapped herself out of her thoughts – no matter how much she liked them. Untying the bandana from around his arm was easier, and she set that with the gloves on her table. The jacket though, was a bit harder to remove, as it involved a bit more interaction with Beelzemon's unconscious form. Kuzuhamon finally managed to pull the leather coat off of him, and was faced with what would be her most daunting challenge yet – the skin-tight leather shirt thing. _Okay……um……I can do this…wait! I should remove his boots first,_ she reasoned. Kuzuhamon sighed in relief, happy she'd delayed the inevitable for a bit longer. Kuzuhamon easily pulled the spiked boots off his feet, being careful of the gun strapped to the left boot. With that done, that left only one thing to do.

_The shirt…_she thought, gulping. _Maybe if I untuck it……it'll be easier…_Kuzuha thought. She reached over to do so, and after a minute of tugging, she realized – it wasn't working. _Oh please, don't tell me…_she thought, undoing the belts and noticing with a deep red blush that what she thought was a shirt was actually just a part of a full body suit. _Why me?_ she thought. _Why always me?_

Kuzuha took a deep breath and lowered the zipper enough so she could get his arms and torso out of the leather and get a good look at the wound. _By the Harmonious Ones…this wound is horrible!_

And it was. Standing out brightly against his pale blue skin was the wound that oozed a thick, sticky black substance.

"What is this…?" Kuzuha breathed. "It sure doesn't look healthy."

"It looks like poison," Ophanimon said from behind her. "It's fortunate I thought ahead and brought some antidote." Kuzuhamon yelped and nearly jumped out of her skin.

"L-lady Ophanimon!" Kuzuha said. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to see your facial expressions while you were uncovering Beelzemon's wound," the angel said, walking over to them. She looked over the Demon Lord, and while Kuzuhamon _knew_ that Ophanimon was assessing the wound, she couldn't help but feel a spike of jealousy course through her. "I have to admit; watching your face change from embarrassment to…other was quite interesting."

Kuzuhamon could have died from embarrassment.

Ophanimon gave Kuzuhamon the bandages and medicine, as well as a cloth and some water to clean the wounds.

"Thank you, Lady Ophanimon," Kuzuha said.

"Do you need some help? From your expressions earlier, you might need it."

Kuzuha blushed. "No thank you, I think I can do this myself," she said stiffly. Even though she _knew_ that Ophanimon only meant to help, Kuzuhamon couldn't help the new surge of jealously rise within her. _I'm the one who's gonna help him, darnit! _She thought.

"All right then," Ophanimon said, leaving. _Kuzuhamon, you still have so much mental growing up to do…_

_Okay, I can do this. I……helped him out of his……c-clothes…I can bandage him,_ Kuzuhamon thought, soaking the cloth and beginning to wipe away at the wound with it. She nearly jumped out of her skin again when she heard Beelzemon groan in pain. She steeled herself and continued her work, trying to not let her hands linger _too_ much on his stomach.

Once Kuzuha cleaned Beelzemon's wound, she carefully put the medicated bandage on it and then wrapped it. That last part was a bit challenging, as it meant she had to first lift his inert body and then keep him sitting up while she wrapped his wound.

_This would be a _lot_ easier if I had help…oh, wait…I didn't want help. Well, if he were awake. Oh, wait, then I wouldn't be doing this,_ she thought, continuing her work. Kuzuhamon carefully wound the cloth around him, making sure it wouldn't hurt him too much when he moved. And then…she felt something wrap around her _own_ waist. _Wait a minute…the only arm that could do that is around my shoulders, so……_she looked down to see his tail gently coiling itself around her. And the worst – well, maybe not _worst,_ but rather the most _inappropriate, _given the situation – thing about it was that Kuzuhamon was enjoying it. _Okay! This, while……enjoyable……can't go on. I have to bandage him, not………with his tail. That…well, maybe – NO! Get back to work, Kuzuhamon! _She ordered herself. Carefully, yet firmly, she removed the tail from around her.

As though the tail, or the subconscious part of Beelzemon that knew she was the one helping, understood, the tail settled down.

_All right! Almost done! Okay, the antidote……_she glanced at the bottle. "Dosage…okay…eep! M-m-must…" _be administered ORALLY?! Okay, someone hates me. Man, Beelzemon, wake up! I-I mean…it's not like I _mind_ or anything……but it's just a little awkward when you're unconscious. Okay……I can do this. I came this far, I can do the rest,_ she thought, taking a sip of the foul-tasting medicine. Before her gag reflex activated, she kissed Beelzemon, making sure the antidote got into his system. After Kuzuhamon was certain he'd swallowed the medicine, she finally sat back and breathed a sigh of relief. _Finally! Okay, awkwardness is over. All I have to do now is relax and wait for him to wake up,_ she thought, sitting back in her chair. _Just……have…to wait……_she thought before falling asleep.

* * *

**Yeah...you're all prob'ly wondering why......_that_ happened. Think about it - four months they've been goin' out, some thoughts and feelings of that variety are probably very common for them now (especially since Kuzuha's mind has had to do some serious catching up to do with her body. I'd say...mentally, she's about sixteen or seventeen)**


	8. Assessing the Situation

**And now, everyone's gonna come up with their battle plans. (with some teasing from a Demon Lord, of course.)**

**Chapter Eight: Assessing the Situation**

A couple hours later, Beelzemon came to when the setting sun began glinting in his eyes.

"Ow…what the……where am I?" he said, waking up. _Last thing I remember before passing out was telling Behemoth to get me to Kuzuhamon,_ he thought. Then he sat up quickly when he realized that he was inside a nicely made room that was pretty much the exact opposite of his room in the Dark Area Castle. For one thing, the breeze smelled like flowers, not salt from the Dark Ocean. He looked around the fairly nice room. For one thing, it was white and light blue, and it looked warm and safe. He looked out the window to see the beautiful white flowers, and it was obvious he was in a castle. The wind picked up again, and he shivered. _Wait a minute…why am I-ow…_he thought, looking down at himself. He was shocked to see that his whole torso was uncovered and that his wound had been bandaged. His mind also didn't feel fuzzy anymore. _Okay, this is strange. I'm in a strange castle, half dressed – wait…_he checked under the sheet and sighed in relief when he saw that he was indeed still at least half clothed. _Half dressed, I've been bandaged up, and I don't feel dizzy from the poison anymore. What in the Dark Area is goin' on?_ Beelzemon thought, looking around. What he saw was Kuzuhamon sitting in a chair, fast asleep, with her staff resting in a corner and her hands clutching his jacket.

The sunlight glinted in again, and Kuzuhamon stirred with a slight groan.

"Kuzuhamon. Hey, Kuzuha, wake up," he whispered.

"Huh…?" Kuzuhamon said. "Beelzemon? Y-you're awake!"

"Yeah, an' it looks like someone bandaged me up. So……did you enjoy it?" he said with a smirk.

Kuzuhamon blushed crimson, confirming the Demon Lord's suspicions that she was the one who helped him. "Sh-shut up."

"You didn't try to take advantage me, did you?"

"Yeah, right! Your tail already tried to do that to _me!_" she said.

Beelzemon looked from her to his tail and back again. _Well, rats. Wish I'd been awake for that. _"I'm guessin' I'm in Light Castle?"

"My room, to be exact," she said.

"Wow, I didn't know that our relationship had matured _that_ much, if I'm in your _room_," he said with a sly grin on his face. It didn't go over too well though, as Kuzuha began crying. "Wait, I'm sorry! It was just me being dumb, Kuzuha," he said trying to get her to calm down.

Kuzuha looked up and rushed over to him, hugging his shoulders tightly. "I was so scared you'd die! Th-the poison…and…I was terrified! I thought I'd lose you…" she cried into him.

Beelzemon hugged her, not caring that the motion sent a small spike of pain running through him. "It's okay. I'm alive, and that's all that matters," he said, holding her.

Kuzuha sniffed. "Uh-huh…"

"Um……is this a bad time? I've been keeping this soup warm for the past hour, and I was wondering…" Noah said from the doorway.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, Noah," Kuzuhamon said, getting up. "Are you hungry, Beelzemon?"

"Yeah," he said. "What d'ya have to eat?"

"Soup," Noah said, handing the Demon Lord a bowl and a spoon.

"Anything else?" he asked.

"Nope."

"I'll leave you to that," Kuzuhamon said, leaving the room with Noah following.

The Demon Lord sighed and began to eat his food. By the time he finished, it was well past sunset. _Huh. I wonder when Kuzuha's gonna come back,_ he thought. _Okay, so maybe she's been gone for like what, an hour? When did I become an insecure idiot?……………It's a good thing that I didn't say that out loud._

"Beelzemon?" Kuzuha said, walking into the room. "You okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

"You looked lost in thought or something," she said, sitting in the chair next to him.

"It's nothing, Kuzuha. Sorry about this……"

"Don't worry about it. It's just……what happened to you? How did you get hurt like that?"

Beelzemon sighed and explained what had happened, telling his girlfriend about Murmuxmon's scheme, being poisoned by Phelesmon, and how he'd told Behemoth to take him to Light Castle. While he spoke, Kuzuhamon moved next to him and hugged him, wishing she could make him feel better.

In the Dark Area, Murmuxmon was conversing with Daemon.

"You're certain that Beelzemon is dead?" Daemon asked. He wasn't particularly _fond_ of the green Digimon (well, Daemon wasn't fond of _anyone_ other than himself), but he could easily find a use for the monster.

"Phelesmon's final act was to ensure that. The poison of his Black Statue attack would kill even Lord Belphemon in his Rage Mode," Murmuxmon said confidently.

"Still…I cannot grant you the role of 'Lord of Gluttony' unless I know for certain that Beelzemon is dead. I would need specific proof first."

"Hmph. Pathetic law."

"Lord Lucemon set that law into place, you've no right to challenge it," Daemon said. He wasn't fond of anyone, but he respected the Demon Lord of Pride and his motivations - to a point. It was a poorly-kept secret that their esteemed leader had been created by to be a friend to a human. "Find me the proof and you are the new Lord of Gluttony."

"As you wish, Lord Daemon," Murmuxmon said, leaving. _And if I can't _find_ proof, I'll _make_ it,_ he thought, going over to the beach. "Neodevimon!" he shouted to the darkness.

"Yes, m'lord?" the Digimon asked. He had a gold mask with horns on it, spiky silver hair, large red wings, arms that reached his feet with red bands around his hands and gold claws. The boots he wore looked like they were made of belts, and had silver spikes on them. His skin was eerie silver, too. The Ultimate Digimon held the Mega in high regard - or Neodevimon _would_ if he were capable of emotion. "What do you require of me?"

"Find Lord Beelzemon and see if he has truly perished under the effects of Phelesmon's poison. If he hasn't, make sure that you kill him. If all else fails, create some evidence of his demise and return to me. It's about time I gained some power," Murmuxmon said.

"Yes, m'lord," Neodevimon said, flying away. To him, all of this was just another job.

_Soon……Soon, Beelzemon, your reign shall be over as Lord of Gluttony…_Murmuxmon thought.

* * *

**Sorry this one's a bit shorter than last chapter, but I thought this was a good place to end things for now.**


	9. Past, Present, and Future

**Yay! Chapter nine! There will be a lot of awkwardness later in the chapter................though nothing will change rating wise. (this is fun, but it isn't gonna be _that_ fun)**

**Chapter Nine: Past, Present, and Future**

At Light Castle, Beelzemon had woken up after having fallen asleep for about half an hour, and noticed that Kuzuhamon wasn't there.

_Maybe I should find her…_he thought. _Oh great, I'm sounding all insecure. _

The Demon Lord stiffly got out of the bed, pulled on his jacket, and slowly made his way out of the room. Light Castle wasn't what he expected at all – instead of the dreary nature that Dark Area Fortress had, the place Beelzemon was in now looked cultured and clean. And there were a whole lot of books.

Beelzemon eventually made his way downstairs, where he saw Noah, Labramon, and Kuzuhamon working while Nefertimon was talking to Ophanimon. He smiled as he watched Kuzuhamon work diligently at organizing the books. The way they all interacted made them seem like a real family, and it made Beelzemon a little jealous that he was outside all that.

"Hey, Beelzemon!" Labramon said, running over to the demon Digimon. "Feeling better?"

"Uh…yeah, a little," he told the dog.

"Well that's good," the canine Digimon said.

"Labramon……a…little…_help_ here?" Noah asked, struggling with a pile of books.

"Oh, sorry, Noah!" Labramon said, slipping back into the harness of his little wagon (like the kind kids have) and going over to help his friend. Beelzemon continued down the stairs to the group, and was eventually noticed by Kuzuhamon.

"B-Beelzemon, why are you up?" Kuzuha asked, shocked that he was standing.

"You have no idea how bored I was up there by myself," he said. "Actually, in a way, it's kinda refreshing, not having to watch my back. But still."

"My apologies that our home doesn't have the……entertainment you're used to," Ophanimon said with a wry humor in her voice.

"Sorry, Lady Ophanimon," Beelzemon said with a sheepish laugh. "Anyway, I should be going soon. If Daemon thinks I'm dead, then Murmuxmon'll take my place."

"_NO!_" Kuzuhamon shouted. Everyone turned to stare at the Digimon who was now blushing furiously. "I-I mean……i-if you…g-go back……in your weakened state……they could kill you!"

"Kuzuhamon does have a point," Nefertimon said. "You're recovering from poison; you're in no condition to travel."

"Besides, there's some theatrical value in not showing up until the last minute, disproving everyone who thought you were dead," Noah told the Demon Lord.

"How do you know that?" Beelzemon asked the digitized human.

Noah shrugged. "It worked for my father."

"_Anyway………_" Beelzemon said. "So, where am I gonna stay?"

"Well, there's always Kuzuhamon's room," Ophanimon said.

"_My room?_ Why not Noah's?"

"Labramon's okay in small doses," Beelzemon said. "But he reminds me of Terriermon too much for me to want to room with his partner."

"What about a room for yourself?" Kuzuha said. While she truly loved Beelzemon, she didn't like the turn this conversation was taking.

"Hmm……his bandages could slip in the middle of the night," Nefertimon said.

Kuzuhamon walked stiffly over to the older Digimon. "Why are you doing this to me?" she whispered. "I mean, I love Beelzemon, yes, but……I……"

"Kuzuhamon, we _could_ give him a room to himself, but if he starts to worsen, wouldn't it be better if someone was already there to help him?" Ophanimon said. "Not only that, but staying with one of the others is……misguided. First off, Labramon gets a bit overenthusiastic over things. Second, the Royal Knights have a tendency to visit Noah often – Beelzemon being in his room would defeat all our purposes. Third, as a Great Angel, I am also subject to frequent visits from not only the other Angels, but also the Harmonious Ones and the Knights. And Lord Fanglongmon, the leader of the Sovereigns, has an unrelenting hatred for the Demon Lords. Finally, Nefertimon doesn't have a bed in her room."

"Thus leaving me…" Kuzuha said. "I understand it, but…I'm not entirely comfortable with the situation."

"I know, Kuzuha, but we've little other choice. Your room is also the least visible. We have no other place for him to stay," the Great Angel said. "I'm sorry."

Kuzuhamon sighed. "It's okay, Lady Ophanimon. We don't want Beelzemon to go stir-crazy in a room by himself, either, huh?"

"I never thought of that. Good point," she said. "Noah, if you could go convince Behemoth to move himself to the new storage area? We haven't put anything there yet, so it's completely empty for our…other guest."

"Yes, m'lady," Noah said, going outside.

"I'll get back to work," Kuzuha said, going over to shelve some more books. The library needed constant care, especially since new things were being added all the time, courtesy of Nefertimon's youngest daughter's hobby of collecting old books and wanting her mother and aunt to read them.

Beelzemon sat down in a chair near the two holy Digimon and stared at the floor.

"Is our home truly so boring, Lord Beelzemon?" Nefertimon asked.

"It's just not something I'm used to, that's all," he said. "What about you? You just accepted my being a Demon Lord and also on your side without any explanation or proof. Why?"

"I……worked for a Digimon known as Myotismon when I was younger. He wasn't a nice one. And I was also the partner of a Digidestined child – though I never knew it at the time. So I've seen both sides of the coin, and I understand," Nefertimon said.

"Still, you're still a holy Digimon, and I never was."

"My youngest daughter, Nyaromon, is what you'd call a 'mixed bag'. She's the reincarnation of two humans with holy powers, knows how to use them herself, and also holds demonic power. She manipulates chaos and lightning, holds the powers of an earth demon and a thunder demon, and she herself became a demon not too long ago."

"Does she ever have an identity crisis?" Beelzemon joked.

"No, because she knows exactly who she is. She's herself," Nefertimon said. "And there's a number of people, demons, and deities who would cause the apocalypse to prevent anyone from destroying that."

"Man, she must be spoiled for a little kid," he said.

"Actually, she's a very giving child. And as a matter of fact, Nyaromon has taken on the appearance of a young teenager because of some training she has been selected for," Nefertimon said.

"Okay then," Beelzemon said, beginning to watch Kuzuha work.

About half an hour later, Noah walked in, his clothes looking a bit dirty. He had a slightly irritated expression on his face as he walked back in.

"What's wrong, Noah?" Ophanimon asked, concerned for the boy's disheveled appearance. This caused Beelzemon to look up from watching Kuzuhamon and start coughing lest he laugh.

Noah _actually_ looked like he'd been dragged through a bunch of dirt and had to outrun a herd of stampeding Monochromon. And failed.

"That motorcycle wouldn't listen for anything. I even threatened to sell it for scrap to a bunch of Datamon. I finally told it that unless it wanted its master to die from a Royal Knight's attack, it would hide. That thing ran me in circles!" Noah said.

"Maybe I should have done it…" Kuzuha said. "Behemoth likes me."

"I am going to bed. Come on, Labramon," Noah said to his non-partner.

"You got it!" Labramon said, following Noah upstairs.

"Speaking of which," Ophanimon said. "It's getting rather late. Kuzuhamon, you can finish that in the morning."

"Um……o-okay…" Kuzuhamon said. _I'm so uncomfortable with this. I……yeah, on some level I wouldn't mind at all that he's sharing a room with me. But he's also……I'm nervous about it, too……WAIT A MINUTE. _"Um……Lady Ophanimon?" Kuzuhamon said, walking up to the angel Digimon and leaning over to whisper in her ear. "My room only has one bed."

"Oh dear, I'd forgotten about that. Well, surely –"

"No."

"That _is_ a problem, isn't it?" Ophanimon whispered. "Well, we'll get another bed moved to your room tomorrow, okay? Please bear with this for just one night."

"A-all right……" Kuzuha said to Ophanimon before beginning to go upstairs. "Beelzemon, let's go."

"Okay," the Demon Lord said, following her. _Why's she acting so weird?_ Beelzemon thought.

The Demon Lord of Gluttony soon got his answer when Kuzuhamon went into her room……

……and shut and locked the door behind her.

"Kuzuhamon? You okay?" he asked.

"I've been told that……while you're here……you're going to be staying in my room," she said.

"And _that's_ what's got you actin' all weird?" _It's not like that's a _bad_ thing, right? Or am I that hard to live with._

"Mistress Nefertimon and Lady Ophanimon have also forgotten to take into account the sleeping arrangements. They'll be resolved tomorrow, but until then…"

Beelzemon began laughing as he caught the implications of what she was saying. "You're all freaked out because we have to share a bed for _one night?_"

"It's not funny!" she said.

_You're right. It's actually hilarious. _"Listen, Kuzuha, how about I promise to not do anything? I mean, you _can_ trust me, right?"

"Yes…"

"Okay, then, so will you let me in?"

"No."

"And why not?" he asked. "If this is gonna be for some –"

"I'll let you come in when I've finished changing," she said, voice firm.

"Okay, then…" he said, biting back the urge to say something highly inappropriate.

In her room, Kuzuhamon sighed in relief. Even though she loved Beelzemon, there were just some things she was _not_ ready for. She walked over to her closet and pulled out the single item that resided in it – a pretty nightgown made of a light and soft blue fabric. It had been a present for the young Mega Digimon from Princess Nyaromon – though Kuzuha had never met Nyaromon personally, it had been given on the princess's behalf by Lady Magnadramon, Ophanimon's niece, Nefertimon's daughter, and Nyaromon's older sister.

_Okay, Kuzuhamon, you can do this,_ she encouraged herself. _It's not a big deal; he said he wouldn't pull anything while he was here. Yeah, I'll be fine,_ she thought as she slid out of her armoring and pulled on the dress. After she changed, she walked over and carefully unlocked and opened the door. "Okay………you can come in now, Beelzemon," she said, stepping to one side.

"Thanks," he said, walking into the room. _Oh man, she really looks beautiful,_ he thought. It took all his self discipline to keep to the promise he'd made his girlfriend, and he wasn't going to break it – even if there was a traitorous part of his mind that kept coming up with various scenarios going in his favor. He did his best to ignore that part as he sat down on her bed. "So……now what?" Beelzemon asked.

"I guess we just go to bed," Kuzuhamon told him. "There's really nothing else to do."

"Okay," he said. _Well, there's _one_ thing – _he cut himself off in mid-thought as he proceeded to beat that part of his brain senseless. He carefully lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. The movement about a minute after he got into the bed told him that Kuzuhamon had finally worked up the courage to get in with him.

_There, that wasn't so hard,_ Kuzuhamon thought. _I am in the same bed with him, and I am not going to freak out,_ she told herself, completely ignoring the fact that she was only just _barely_ in the bed (a really neat trick, too, since it's a small bed). However, the Mega level was swiftly reminded of this fact as she felt herself beginning to fall. _Oh crud._

"Careful!" Beelzemon said, turning onto his side, grabbing her arm and pulling her up so that she was right next to him. "What were you thinkin', Kuzuha?"

"I was thinking that maybe you shouldn't be on the side with your injury," Kuzuhamon snapped, blushing furiously at being so close to him. Though it wasn't anything _new_ – she always held onto him pretty tightly when they were on Behemoth – it was the _circumstances_ of the situation that made her uncomfortable. The first time they'd ever been like _this._

"Why were you that close to the edge of the bed? You _know_ I wasn't gonna do anything, so do you just not trust me after all?"

"I trust you! It's just……I'm a little……nervous. This is the first time this has happened, and…I'm not sure how to react," she admitted. For all her adult appearance, even after a few months of dating Beelzemon, all she had in the way of mental maturity was that of a naïve human teenage girl. But her mind was steadily catching up to the rest of her.

"Kuzuhamon, I said I wasn't gonna do anything, and I meant it."

"Then why is your arm still around me?" Kuzuha asked.

"_That_ is because that's just comfortable," Beelzemon said. "And I can tell you agree with me."

"And why is that?"

"Because even after I pulled you up, you still moved closer."

Kuzuhamon blushed. So she had. "Yeah, and your point is?"

"You must not be as uncomfortable as you thought," he grinned, tightening his grip around her.

"Shut up," Kuzuha said, closing her eyes. "I'm trying to sleep."

"Whatever you say, Kuzuhamon," he smiled before doing the same. It wasn't long before the two of them were asleep.

* * *

**Well, now we know Behemoth doesn't like Noah. And writing these uncomfortable situations between Beelzemon and Kuzuhamon is a lot of fun!  
And in case anyone didn't pick it up yet, Nefertimon is Kari's Gatomon from 01/02. I have made it this way for this reason: the guardian of Ophanimon's castle is a Nefertimon. Gatomon's armor evolution in season two is Nefertimon. I haven't ever seen Kari's Gatomon turn into Ophanimon, so I think it was a different one that's Ophanimon.  
And yes, I made a fourth Great Angel. (so I'm a little OCD on things balancing......I just don't think it was fair that the Human types got two rulers and Beast types only got one)  
Now, if you would be so kind as to review this? I'm quite fond of getting the email alerts.......(author has depressingly small ego)**


	10. Searching and Finding

**Yeah...some of this chapter's Neodevimon-centric...because it was too short to put in a chapter by itself. As for the meaning of the title......I'll let you figure that out. More awkwardness!!!!!! And I'm happy, because it's finally chapter 10!  
Disclaimer: I don't own a thing. I wish I did, but I don't and none of my crying will change that. I just own the plot.**

**Chapter Ten: Searching and Finding**

Elsewhere, Neodevimon was flying about the Digital World. Obviously Beelzemon wouldn't be close to an area controlled by a Great Angel, so he avoided Forest Terminal and Light Terminal altogether.

"Hm, I wonder where I could find information on Beelzemon…" the devil Digimon wondered. "It's not like he's the kind to go across the countryside, helping anyone. I should look for the highest-classed places and start from there," Neodevimon reasoned, going off to Steel Town.

Once there, the fiendish demon Digimon began investigating the city, searching for any clue as to where Beelzemon would be.

"I'm sorry, sir," a Lillymon said. "I don't know any Beelzemon. Wish I could help you," she said apologetically.

"It's quite all right," Neodevimon said with a false sense of friendliness. "Thank you for your help."

"It's not a problem," Lillymon said, beginning to fly off.

Neodevimon wanted to kill her, as he had all others he'd encountered. However, to not draw attention to himself in the crowded city was top priority. And he couldn't risk being seen.

_Perhaps if I ask some of the demon Digimon……hmm……there's a group of Bakemon merchants a few streets over……_Neodevimon thought, flying over to where the virus Digimon were selling their wares.

"Come and look, folks, these are the best cloaks you can buy!" one Bakemon called. "Great for traveling, dramatics, or rainy days, they're multi-purpose!"

"May I speak to your head merchant?" Neodevimon said, walking up to the ghost.

"Uh……yeah, sure," Bakemon said, taking the demon over to the door to the back room in the building they'd rented. "Hey, boss! There's a Neodevimon here to ask you some things!"

"Send him in," the boss's voice came out.

"Sure thing, boss ghost! Sir, if you'll step this way," Bakemon held the door open for Neodevimon. The demon inclined his head to the ghost Digimon and walked in.

The boss was a Soulmon stooped over a crystal ball. "What have you come to discuss, Neodevimon?"

"The Demon Lord Beelzemon," Neodevimon said. "He's been missing for quite some time, Master Soulmon. I was wonder if you, who has traveled across the Digital World and back again, have heard of or seen him."

"Hmm……can't say that I have, Mr. Neodevimon."

"Surely the crystal ball you have must have shown you something," Neodevimon prodded.

"What? Oh, this old hunk of junk? It couldn't predict the sun coming up tomorrow," Soulmon scoffed. "I just have it because it's nice to look at."

Neodevimon stood and instantly took on an annoyed air. "I see. Well, thank you for your time, Master Soulmon."

"Ah, ah, ah! Nothing is free, so pay up."

Sighing, Neodevimon gave Soulmon a few coins and left, completely ignoring the Bakemon trying to sell him a cloak on his way out.

In the back room, Soulmon sat at his table, steadily polishing the crystal.

"Oh, come now, don't be like that," he said to it. "We don't want every Neodevimon and all that knowing of your power, do we?"

The crystal just sat there, glittering in the light of the candles.

"See, I knew you'd understand. We can't have Lord Beelzemon and Young Miss Kuzuhamon be caught, now can we? We've all roles to play in this world, and theirs has intertwined them since the earliest times. Ah, young love…"

The crystal gleamed, as if from the candles, but if one looked closely enough, one could see that the glow came from within the sphere.

"Yes, yes, I know, 'don't meddle in affairs that aren't my concern'. I know, little one," he said, pausing for a moment to regard the crystal. "Yes, I understand…they have much ahead of them…the fox woman and the demon prince. Well, there's no use moping about."

The crystal gleamed in the light, seeming to pulse with energy.

"Oh…is it time already?"

The crystal glowed.

"I see…well, it's about time," he said. "Soulmon Digivolve to………Phantomon!" Soulmon cried out, the crystal joining him in the Digivolution process and turning into the eyeball crystal around his neck. "Well, it appears we need to be ready, correct?" Phantomon said, brandishing his scythe.

The crystal glittered in satisfaction.

"Ah, I thought as much. Bakemon!"

"Yes, Master Soul – _whoa! _I mean, Master _Phantomon_," Bakemon said, a bit taken aback at his boss's new Digivolution.

"How go the sales?" Phantomon asked his employee.

As the two ghosts began discussing cloak sales, Neodevimon was flying away; irritated that he couldn't find any information. The only one who would know about Beelzemon was dead.

Neodevimon sighed and went back to work.

The next morning at Light Castle, Beelzemon actually woke up to a sunrise. The Demon Lord was confused a bit at the light, but he quickly remembered he was in Light Castle.

_Y'know, I kinda missed that,_ Beelzemon thought. _Sunrises……of course, they're a lot better _here_ than in Shinjuku. _He felt something shift in his arms, and he looked down with a smile at the still sleeping Kuzuhamon. _She looks so innocent…and beautiful……_

Just as the Demon Lord was about to fall back asleep, a small voice woke him up.

"What time is it……?" Kuzuhamon said sleepily.

"Just about daybreak. Go back to sleep, Kuzuha."

"But _you're_ awake…"

"I was almost asleep again when you woke up," Beelzemon told her.

"Oh. Sorry, Beelzemon," Kuzuhamon said to him. "Y'know, I had no idea why I was so nervous last night."

"I think _I _know why," Beelzemon said with a grin.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Noah had sleepily gotten up to go see the visitor. Yawning, the digital human opened the door.

"It's _dawn_. Can't this wait?" Noah said irritably.

"I – no……" Ulforceveedramon said from the doorway. "It's just that Kuzuhamon kinda worried me a few days ago with how she was acting, like she was depressed. I know she thinks I'm her friend, but…"

"You like her," Noah said, stating the fact that was actually one of the Royal Knights' worst-kept secrets.

"I just wanna talk to her," he said to Noah.

"All right…" Noah said, going over to where Labramon – who had followed his companion downstairs – had fallen asleep on his feet. "Labramon. Hey Labramon, wake up," he whispered to the animal.

"Huh? Oh…I'm sorry, Noah……" Labramon said.

"Go up to Kuzuhamon's room and tell her that Lord Ulforceveedramon is here!" Noah ordered.

Labramon woke up fully when he realized the implications. "Okay!" he said, running up the stairs to warn Kuzuhamon about the blue Mega Digimon who'd come to visit her.

Once he reached the locked door, the canine Digimon began clawing lightly at it to get the attention of its inhabitant.

"What is it, Labramon?" Kuzuhamon said through the door.

"Lord Ulforceveedramon is downstairs asking about you, Kuzuhamon. I just figured you should go talk to him before he comes inside asking about you," Labramon said.

Some sounds of movement and whispered arguing came through the door before Kuzuhamon opened it to reveal herself back in her armor (because going to talk to _anyone_ – except Beelzemon – while she wasn't armored and only wearing a nightdress would just be too embarrassing). "Okay, let's go," she said to the canine Digimon.

Labramon nodded and walked with the Mega Digimon downstairs where Ulforceveedramon was standing in the library.

"Hello, Lord Ulforceveedramon," Kuzuhamon said. "What brings you here this early in the morning?"

"Listen, I was just worried about you the other day……when Beelzemon attacked you. You seemed really……distant. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine," she said. "It wasn't that big a deal, and Beelzemon didn't even attack me. He attacked Lord Sleipmon and Lord Craniummon."

"Still, he _could_ have. The Demon Lords are notorious for their ruthless natures and don't hesitate to kill anyone standing in their way," Ulforceveedramon said.

"But he _didn't_. No, I don't know why, and it's not really bugging me. The point is that I'm fine," she said. _Now stop insulting my boyfriend,_ she thought, really wishing she could say it aloud.

"If……you ever want to talk though, I'll come back," he said, beginning to leave. "Y-you're really……" he began to say but shook it off as he left. It was just too hard to admit his feelings to her. "I'll see you later, Kuzuhamon," Ulforceveedramon said, leaving. The Royal Knight walked away, pausing for a moment to look up at one of the castle windows. _I coulda sworn someone was watching me…_the blue Digimon thought before beginning to run off.

Up in Kuzuhamon's room, Beelzemon was glaring down at the blue figure, though his face was hidden by the curtains. _Who was that guy, and why was he here talking to Kuzuhamon? I don't trust him,_ the Demon Lord thought irritably as Kuzuhamon walked back into her room.

"Beelzemon?" Kuzuha said, trying to get his attention. The Demon Lord ignored her as he continued his thoughts – which all featured new and interesting ways Ulforceveedramon could be tortured and/or killed. "Beelzemon," Kuzuhamon tried again. "Come on, you giant, blue-skinned, inadequate lump, answer me!"

"Okay, giant and blue-skinned I'll concede to since they're true. But a _lump? Inadequate?_ How am I _inadequate?_"

Kuzuhamon looked at him, arms crossed.

"You are an evil little fox woman, you know that?" he said with a mischievous smirk.

"I learned from the master," Kuzuhamon told him, smiling. "How are your injuries?"

"They're fine."

"Beelzemon, are they _really_ fine, or are you just sayin' that to impress me?"

"They're fine," he said stubbornly.

Kuzuha shook her head and walked over to him. "Let me see them."

"I told you, I'm perfectly fine, Kuzuha."

"You liar," she said, sitting down. "Let me see the injury."

"Make me," he challenged.

Kuzuhamon smirked and began to reach for the bandages. Before she could get the wrappings undone, Beelzemon caught her arms and the two began having a miniature wrestling match. It really consisted more of laughing while the Digimon tried to overpower each other.

The match finally ended when Kuzuha managed to pin Beelzemon down and smiled victoriously.

"Well, it looks like you lost," she said. "That means I get to check your wound."

"Oh, so _that's_ what that means," Beelzemon said. "Kinda hard for you to do that since your arms are preoccupied with keeping me pinned down."

"Please, Beelzemon? I'm just worried about you."

"Oh, all right……" he said. "You're just too cute to say no to."

Kuzuhamon smiled. "Thank you, Beelzemon," Kuzuhamon said. Slowly and carefully, she unwrapped the bandages from around him. "Well, it looks a lot better. But I better change the bandages," she said, getting up to get more.

"Oh, come on, it's not like I need them, right? I'll heal on my own, Kuzuha."

"Like I believe that," Kuzuhamon said, preparing the new bandages. "It'll be the last time, though. You heal fast."

"Yeah, well, _duh_."

"Are you calling me dumb?" Kuzuha asked. "Because if you are, you can leave."

"Ah, crud. No, I wasn't calling you dumb……an' I'd _love_ for you to replace the bandages," Beelzemon said fast. "Please?" _Man, I've never been more nervous in my life……_

"Okay, then. Because you said please," Kuzuhamon laughed. She sat down next to him and applied the new bandages for him, trying not to let her fingers trail _too_ long on his stomach. "There, all bandaged up," she said when she was done. "Was that so hard?"

"No, not at all," Beelzemon said, trying to keep his instincts in check. But with this close proximity to his girlfriend, and the fact that he was pretty much half-dressed, almost made him lose it.

"Something wrong, Beelzemon?" Kuzuha asked, concerned with the distressed look on his face.

"Nothin's wrong," he said, slowly butchering any and all inclinations to just give in to his instincts. _Well, maybe _one_ wouldn't hurt…_he thought before kissing her. The two of them continued on that road for awhile, and Beelzemon was just about to move things along when Kuzuhamon managed back away from him a little.

"You're still hurt," she said.

"Not _that_ badly…" he told her. _C'mon, this is killin' me!_

"Well……I……" Kuzuhamon said, beginning to waver. _Would it be that bad?_

However, a knock at the door managed to quell any and all action.

"Breakfast has been prepared, you two," Nefertimon said from the other side of the door. "You might want to get up, you two."

"Yes, Mistress Nefertimon," Kuzuhamon said, getting up at rapid speed.

Beelzemon pulled his jacket on and followed suit. _So close…_he thought irritably. _I hate my life_. "Come on, Kuzuha," he said, wrapping one arm around her shoulders.

"All right," Kuzuhamon said. _If Mistress Nefertimon hadn't come when she did……would Beelzemon and I have……_she thought, sneaking a glance up at her Demon Lord.

"Oh yeah, I've been meanin' to ask – who was that guy?"

"Ulforceveedramon. He's one of the Royal Knights," Kuzuhamon said.

"I see…and why'd he come talk to you?" Beelzemon asked. "You aren't a Royal Knight."

"No, but Lord Ulforceveedramon's had the biggest crush on me for a long time," Kuzuha said, walking slightly ahead of him. "I think he's trying to work up the courage to ask me out." A slight strangling noise from behind her made the fox Digimon turn around.

Beelzemon was twitching and gritting his teeth together. A low rumble came from his throat as his face turned slightly red out of fury. The Demon Lord looked ready to snap, grab his guns, and go on a psychotic killing spree, slaughtering any and all who even got within eyesight of Kuzuhamon.

"Beelzemon…" Kuzuha asked.

"What?" he said in a dangerously low voice.

"Are you jealous?" she asked in a slightly frightened voice. She would have had a teasing tone to it, but she didn't want him to snap.

Unfortunately, that's _exactly_ how he took it. "Are you making fun of me?" he asked.

"No…" she said in a meek, quiet voice. "Never."

"You better not be, Kuzuhamon," he said, walking close to her. The Demon Lord growled when Kuzuhamon backed up a bit. "Don't," he ordered.

Kuzuha gulped. _Why is he……acting like this?_

Beelzemon walked up directly in front of her and stared down into the shorter Mega's face, his three blood red eyes boring holes into her. Kuzuhamon trembled both out of fear…and attraction.

_Why do I like the look he's giving me……and why do I hope he'll do something? _Kuzuha thought._ Idiot! Focus! He's going crazy! _"Beelzemon....? You're okay, right? Please tell me you're not gonna go psycho on me..."

Beelzemon wordlessly pulled Kuzuhamon into an intense hug, crushing the smaller Digimon's body against his own. He leaned down to whisper in the fox woman's ear, "Mine. No one else is gonna take you away," he told her as he held her tighter. A light, possessive growl came from his throat before he continued. "And not even the other Demon Lords can do anything about that."

"O-okay……" she said. "Um……our breakfasts must be getting cold…"

"Then let's go," Beelzemon said before letting Kuzuhamon go. Well, _almost_. He was still gripping Kuzuha's hand as he led her into the dining hall. _Hmph, that Knight's got a lot of nerve, thinking he can just take Kuzuha away. _

_He _was_ jealous! _Kuzuhamon realized. _But……why get so possessive? It's like……he's scared to lose me…_she thought as they went into the dining hall to eat their breakfasts.

* * *

**Beelzemon's reaction......yeah. I based it kinda off of a personality of one of my friend Redchan1400's characters (though _believe_ me, this is _nothing_ compared to my minion's character. It almost scares me at times, the personality of that character......especially since in one of our RPs, that character of his is dating one of my characters).  
Also, sorry this is a bit more delayed than the others, but my deviantART account exploded in watchers the other day, and I was busy with messages (27 messages in two hours! And that's when I was gone for the two hours!) and stuff like that. (if anyone's curious, I'm Agrotera-Thanatos there) Anyways, please review!**


	11. Strategic Machinations

**Sorry this wasn't posted with my usual speediness, but someone got me into an RP chat on deviantART......and that was addicting. (Plus I had writer's block anyway)  
As usual, I don't own anything (Disney still hasn't returned any of my calls....) but the plot, and Windy, a human to be referenced later in the chapter. Yeah......this is also kinda more of a Yu-Gi-Oh! crossover than the first story, but Noah's not a main character. Beelzemon and Kuzuhamon are what this story's all about. (funny I mention that considering the latter half of the chapter......)**

**Chapter Eleven: Strategic Machinations**

Upon the couple's arrival in the dining room, they were met with a surprise - a visitor. And not just any visitor, no......it was one of the Royal Knights themselves.

No one was concerned though, as it was just Alphamon. (He already knew about the happy couple, anyway)

"Mistress Nefertimon, Lady Ophanimon," Alphamon said, bowing to the sisters. "Noah, Labramon, Kuzuhamon," he nodded to the digital human, dog, and fox woman. "and Beelzemon," he said to the Demon Lord. "I'd heard you were staying here. Noah told me last night during training."

Beelzemon just looked at the physically thirteen-year-old.

"Well, he was gonna send one of the Knights here anyway, so I figured I'd tell him so……ya know…your cover isn't blown," Noah said.

"That makes sense," the Demon Lord conceded. "Sorry, Noah."

"It's okay, people and Digimon get mad at me all the time," Noah said. "My step-brother Seto _still_ doesn't like me too much."

"Why's that, Noah?" Labramon asked.

"Well, you know…the old 'trap-him-and-his-friends-in-a-virtual-world-so-I-can-take-over-his-mind-and-the-company-my-father-should-have-given-to-me-because-I'm-his-biological-son-but-didn't-because-I-was-a-digitized-mind' scheme," the green-haired 'pre-teen' said nonchalantly.

Kuzuhamon coughed uncomfortably. "Yeah…"

"And you let this kid move to the Digital World?" Beelzemon asked Nefertimon.

"He was making amends for his crimes," Nefertimon said. "I was given a second chance, so why not him?"

"Good point. So Alphamon, what brings you here?" Beelzemon asked.

"Merely checking in on Lady Ophanimon and her domain," the Knight told the Demon Lord. He, like the Great Angels and Nefertimon, had all long since waved off Beelzemon's informal modes of address. "It is something that's done every once in a while. Why are you here? Noah didn't go into much detail, for obvious reasons."

"There's a Digimon called Murmuxmon who's trying to take my place as Lord of Gluttony," Beelzemon said. "His flunky, Phelesmon, tried to poison me with this attack called 'Black Statue' before he destroyed his own Fractal Code. I managed to get out of there and come here before the poison killed me. I think the other Demon Lords think I'm dead."

"You never told me all this," Kuzuha said. "It was really that serious?"

"I didn't want you to get scared," Beelzemon told her. "Besides, thanks to that antidote you gave me, when I finally came to, it was no problem anymore."

Kuzuhamon still didn't look convinced, but remained silent.

"At any rate, this is a bad thing. If Murmuxmon replaces you…" Alphamon said.

"He can't. Not unless he has definitive proof. The one _good_ thing Lucemon did – oh, sorry, Noah…" he said, looking at the creator of said fallen angel.

"It's all right. I know full well the crimes my former friend has committed," Noah said with a sigh. "I'm still upset that he felt he had to go that far, but that was his decision, and he has to live with it."

"All right, then," Beelzemon said before continuing. "But yeah, Murmuxmon can't take my place unless he has solid proof that I'm dead. And Daemon, being the sniveling little lapdog of Lucemon's that he is, won't deviate from that."

"Well, that's a plus," Labramon said.

"I know," Beelzemon said. "But I don't think I should stay for too much longer. I can't risk losing my position. Sorry, Kuzuhamon."

"It's all right. It's not your fault," she said.

"At any rate," Ophanimon said. "You can't go anywhere until we're certain you're fully recovered. Because if you go back, I'm certain that you'll wind up fighting Murmuxmon. And in your weakened state, you'd lose."

"I wouldn't lose," Beelzemon said. "I'm the strongest."

"Even if you are," Nefertimon said._ Which we all know you're not,_ she added mentally. "You have to know when to rest."

"And you know from experience?" the Demon Lord asked the sphinx.

"Salamon's Tamer has often trained herself to exhaustion," Nefertimon said.

Beelzemon thought for a moment about Salamon, Shadowstar, and their heavily scarred human partner, Windy. The teen had been as serious as Renamon in battle, but unlike the yellow fox-face, Windy had known how to lighten up and take a joke. She, Salamon, and Shadowstar all acted more like family than a human and her two partners. For a long while, the battle-worn human had been the only one of her species he respected. Even in his quest for power, his 'glory days', when the demon had approached the strange human, she had merely smiled at his statement, then asked if he'd want to spar with Shadowstar - the toughest Eevee he'd ever met (never mind that Shadowstar was the _only_ Eevee he'd ever met) "Yeah, okay, I see your point. Fine, I'll stay. But I'm gonna have to leave soon."

"I know," Kuzuhamon said. "Your mission to take down the Demon Lords from within is more important than anything."

The words tore through the Lord of Gluttony just as his fist once tore through Leomon. _It isn't more important than anything, Kuzuha......__You are..._Beelzemon thought grimly. He knew he couldn't say it, though. Too many Digimon - and Noah - would think he was putting his personal life over something that could save the Digital World. _Would_ save the Digital World. Even though Kuzuhamon meant the world to him, her being the driving force for his continued service to the Great Angels, he knew that she'd rebuke him for not doing what was more important for their world. _I'll make it up to her. Someday,_ he promised.

The problem with that was he didn't know when 'someday' would be.

"I should be going now," Alphamon said, getting up. "I have much work to do today."

"I'll see you later, Lord Alphamon," Noah said as the Royal Knight left.

Everyone in the castle began their work, and Beelzemon sat down and watched Kuzuha sort and file books. There really wasn't much else he could do.

Elsewhere in the Digital World, Neodevimon was busy trying to find some evidence that Beelzemon was dead. Truthfully, the devil Digimon personally didn't care one way or another if Beelzemon was out of the picture. To be honest though, if Beelzemon _had_ followed suit of the other Demon Lords, Neodevimon would have been servant to the late Lord of Gluttony. But all of that wasn't really the issue at the moment.

_I need proof that Lord Beelzemon is dead so Murmuxmon may take his place. And since I cannot find any such information……_Neodevimon thought. The devil Digimon flew over to a nearby boulder and shattered it. _Hmm………this seems well enough to use,_ he thought, using his Guilty Claw to cut into the stone, creating a near-perfect replica of Beelzemon's mask. The new devil Digimon looked with what could have been a smirk (his face _was_ hidden by a mask, after all) upon his artistry. _Now all I need is a piece of red fabric to act as a bandana…that'll be a touch trickier to obtain, but I must pull it off. Though...I wonder…_Neodevimon walked slowly into a village and took survey, looking for anything that could be substitute for the red fabric. After about half an hour of looking around the tiny village, Neodevimon eventually found the replica in the form of a cloth napkin in a small restaurant, easily swiped when the Mikemon running the place had her back turned to deal with a customer.

Neodevimon crept back out into the morning with his prizes, ignoring the shouting of the Gatomon look-a-like coming from the diner. He stopped long enough to wrinkle up the napkin and smudge dirt in it so it looked like it had been obtained after a long struggle before winging his way back to the Dark Area.

_This should suffice in securing Murmuxmon's control of Lord Beelzemon's throne,_ Neodevimon thought as he flew throught the skies, mind so focused on his goal, that he didn't even take notice of a few Snimon gang members who had decided he was easy prey.

But even two weeks later, their fellow thugs still couldn't figure out why the five other Snimon had gone missing.

When Neodevimon returned to his contractor, he presented his 'findings' to Murmuxmon.

"Thank you, Neodevimon," Murmuxmon said. "I will take these findings to Lord Daemon and finally secure my place as Demon Lord of Gluttony," he said, walking to Daemon's chambers with a smug grin on his face. Once there, he showed the items to the Demon Lord of Wrath.

"Interesting. And you say now that this proves Beelzemon's death?"

"Yes, Lord Daemon," Murmuxmon said, bowing. "The bandana is proof itself, but the mask clearly seals it. Why would he go without his mask?"

"Hmm....you have a point...." Daemon said. "All right then, after reviewing these items, I can only conclude that Beelzemon is truly no more."

_Yes.........._"Thank you, Lord Daemon."

"Tomorrow night Daemon, your coronation as the new Lord of Gluttony will occur. Is this acceptable?"

"Yes, Lord Daemon," Murmuxmon said before he left the room. _Hmph, I guess Phelesmon's last act did you in. Your confidence has been your undoing, Beelzemon,_ he thought as he walked down the corridors. He had finally triumphed.

As Murmuxmon walked down the hallway, a small clearing of a throat drew his attention to the side.

"So Beelzemon's gone?" Lillithmon said from her doorway, quite poorly dressed. It seemed as though she'd only put on the near-invisible black robe as an afterthought. In her room were a Devimon and a Myotismon, as well as her three servants, Witchmon, Persiamon, and Ladydevimon. All of them weren't exactly dressed for polite company either - unless that company were the Demon Lord of Lust.

"Yes he is, Lady Lillithmon," Murmuxmon said, thoroughly appreciating the sight.

"Hm. A pity. So………………" Lillithmon began. "Care to join us in a……pre-victory celebration?"

"I believe I'll take you up on that offer," Murmuxmon said, going into the room where the other Digimon awaited. No one came out for a long time.

* * *

**Yeah. Lillithmon, ladies and gentlemen. That's how she acts.  
Okay......so I know this is a few chapters late in coming.......but I have a companion piece to chapter nine called 'The War' in the Digimon/Yu-Gi-Oh! crossover section. Basically - Noah vs. Behemoth, and how Noah got torn up. In addition to reviewing this, please....I'd also like it if those of you who haven't heard of that fic went and took a look at that piece as well. **


	12. A Moment of Peace

**IT LIVES! AND I GOT IT UPDATED BEFORE MIDNIGHT! *dies***

**Writer's block is an evil thing......I'm sorry for the wait, but I was also dealing with stuff that basically depressed me too much to write...and I hate writing when I'm depressed because it always leads to character suffering. (And I mean _unnecessary_ character suffering. Excess drama and stuff like that - things I've been trying to purge from my universe entirely. Some of it in a story here and there works. Too much.......and I find it ridiculous......)**

**(Not only that, but deviantART chatrooms are additcting......especially the RP ones......)  
****  
As usual, I don't own Digimon - just the plot, certain characters' pasts, and some different Digivolution lines I came up with that made sense.**

**Chapter Twelve: A Moment of Peace**

That night, at Light Castle, things were going rather well. Kuzuhamon, Noah, and Labramon were working while Ophanimon and Nefertimon had gone to Forest Castle to meet with Seraphimon and Cherubimon (Nefertimon was there as Lady Beast Regent). Beelzemon was in the storage shed where Behemoth was being kept, making sure the motorcycle wasn't going to kill anyone.

While Beelzemon was taking care of Behemoth, Takato and Guilmon showed up at the castle itself.

"Kato-kun and Guilmon, what brings you here?" Labramon asked the duo.

"Well," Takato said. "We showed up for more training, but since too many of the others were busy, I figured Guilmon and I could hang out here for awhile."

"Oh, okay," Labramon said. "Though I find it only fair to warn you guys……Beelzemon's here."

"I thought that he lived in the Dark Area," Takato asked.

"He does," Noah said, walking up to them. "It's just…complicated…"

"When can we have bread?" the ever-hungry Guilmon asked. "I want Guilmon Bread."

"Um……we only have normal bread…" Noah said.

Guilmon was starting to look dejected, but a rustling from Takato's backpack made the little dragon's eyes light up with joy. Takato had just pulled out a loaf of bread shaped like his naïve partner's head.

"Bread!" Guilmon said happily, taking the loaf from his Tamer's hands and beginning to eat it happily.

"I figured out a long time ago to have a few loaves of Guilmon Bread ready for him to eat," Takato said to Noah.

"Well, if it keeps Guilmon quiet…" Noah said. "I'll make sure some……extra food gets prepared for Guilmon."

"Thanks, Noah," Takato said gratefully. The peace and good will lasted for about two more seconds and ended when a loud, irritated groan came from the doorway.

"Not you two _again!_" Beelzemon growled.

"Hi, Beelzemon," Guilmon said. "Do you want bread? It looks like me."

"No, I don't, you little pineapple-head," the Demon Lord said scathingly.

"Leave him alone, Beelzemon," Takato told the Mega.

"What? It's true," Beelzemon said.

"Guys, cool it," Noah said, walking between the two so they wouldn't get into a fight.

"I'm already calm. It's Beelzemon who's trying so hard to start a figh – are those _bandages?_"

Beelzemon growled at the human. "That is none of your business."

"What's going on?" Kuzuhamon said, finally drawn into the room by all the noise. "Oh, uh……hi, Takato and Guilmon."

"Hello, Kuzuhamon," Guilmon said to the Mega Digimon.

"Hey, Kuzuhamon," Takato began, already feeling the death glares from Beelzemon. "How did Beelzemon get those bandages?"

"Um…that's not really that important…" Kuzuha said to the human teenager.

"Someone tried to take Beelzemon's position as Lord of Gluttony," Takato said. It wasn't so much a question as a statement of fact.

"Um…"

"Shut up, goggle head," Beelzemon snapped. "It isn't any of your business."

"Well, I could _help!_ We _are_ allies!"

"And the other Demon Lords don't know that I'm allied with you, you moron! If they find out, I'm as good as dead!" he snarled. "And so's Kuzuhamon," he finished coldly.

_He's trying to protect her,_ Takato realized. "And the last time you tried to take on something big by yourself, the D-Reaper almost killed you," he said. "And if it wasn't for Grani, you'd have been absorbed by the D-Reaper for sure!"

"That was different," Beelzemon said. "I _know_ how to fight Murmuxmon now."

"Yeah, but can you do it without getting yourself killed?" Takato asked. "I remember your kamikaze mission to save Jeri when she was captured by the D-Reaper."

If looks could kill, Takato would have been brutally slaughtered and ripped to pieces by the force of Beelzemon's guns. Beelzemon's blood red eyes met Takato's reddish brown ones, and the human had no choice but to either step up to the challenge he saw in the demon's gaze or look away. Takato sighed and chose the latter. He remembered all too well what had happened the last time he let his anger with Beelzemon get the best of him - and the Tamer wasn't sure if he would be as lucky a second time.

"Anything else you'd like to add, goggle head?"

"No," Takato said. _I won't tell Kuzuhamon about how you once tried to kill me and my friends so you could have power,_ he thought.

"That's what I thought," Beelzemon said, walking past the Tamer.

"Kamikaze mission?" Kuzuha whispered to her Demon Lord.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later," Beelzemon said to her.

"All right," Kuzuhamon said before continuing with her work.

"Hey guys, dinner's ready!" Noah called from the dining area. The digital human had shown quite an aptitude for the culinary arts, and also enjoyed cooking for the inhabitants of Light Castle.

"Coming!" Kuzuha said from where she was – which was on top of a ladder. As she began to climb down from the ladder, Kuzuha slipped and began to fall from the near-dizzying height, taking a few books with her.

The fox woman's scream as she fell caused Beelzemon to immediately look up from the book he was reading to pass the time.

_Kuzuhamon!_ Beelzemon thought in horror as he saw her purple form fall. Ignoring the stab of pain from an injury not yet fully healed, Beelzemon rushed over in an attempt to catch her.

The whole little event ended with Kuzuhamon landing rather awkwardly on Beelzemon, her face hitting him in the abdomen (and, unfortunately, the injury, causing Beelzemon to growl in pain). And just to add injuries to more injuries, the corner of one of the books smacked Kuzuhamon on the head, causing her to flinch in pain.

And to top it all off, Takato, Guilmon, Noah, and Labramon all ran into the room when they heard the noise.

"Um……are you guys okay?" Takato asked, concerned for the pair. It took all the discipline Takato had gained from being a Tamer _and_ a Royal Knight to keep from staring at the couple's rather.........interesting positioning.

Beelzemon tried to sit up when he noticed the mortified expression on Kuzuhamon's face. The embarrassment almost was enough to kill her.

And if embarrassment could kill, Kuzuha would have died multiple times by that point.

"Takato, shut up," Beelzemon growled.

"Are you and Kuzuhamon playing a game?" Guilmon asked.

"No, pineapple-head, we're _not_."

"It looks like a game…"

"It isn't, pineapple-head."

"But I wanna play, too! Can Kuzuhamon and I play next? I'll land on top of her because she might squish me..."

Before Beelzemon could go on a rampage at Guilmon's innocent (though misguided) phrasing, Noah had helped Kuzuha to stand up. The fox woman Digimon was wincing as she touched the small bump that had formed on the back of her head.

"Are you all right?" Beelzemon said, getting up and going over to her side immediately.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Kuzuha said.

Beelzemon didn't look convinced as he looked at the smaller Mega.

"Guys…food's gettin' cold," Noah said.

"Right," Beelzemon said, taking Kuzuhamon's hand and walked with her into the dining room.

After the strange little group ate their dinners, Beelzemon and Kuzuhamon went upstairs, leaving the Rookie Digimon and their human (or digital human) companions alone to talk and hang out.

"Where are Beelzemon and Kuzuhamon going, Labramon?" Guilmon asked the canine. "Can we go with them?"

"Um…I think it's best if we just let that alone, Guilmon…" Labramon said. "Beelzemon's already mad enough as it is....."

Upstairs, Beelzemon had just been allowed into Kuzuhamon's room after the fox woman had changed. He noticed with some regret (and to Kuzuhamon's relief when _she_ saw it) that Nefertimon had moved a second bed into the room for Beelzemon's use.

"So……don't crawl in with me if ya get cold," he said when he noticed the second bed.

"Yeah, I wasn't planning on it. I'm certain if I get cold I can always find Lord Ulforceveedramon to help me," Kuzuha said teasingly, having completely forgotten about his reaction to said Royal Knight's visit that morning.

Beelzemon growled. "Don't even mention that, Kuzuhamon," he said.

"Oh…I'm sorry, Beelzemon," she said.

"I should hope so. You scared me for a minute."

"I……scared _you?_" Kuzuhamon gaped in astonishment. "I....scared a _Demon Lord?_"

Beelzemon looked away.

"I see……you're afraid of losing me, aren't you?"

"What was your first clue, Kuzuhamon?" Beelzemon asked. "My reaction this morning, how I hate leaving you after our dates, how I saved you, what?"

"I……I didn't realize. I'm sorry."

The Demon Lord sighed. "It's okay. I'm not mad at you. It's just…that Ulforceveedramon. Pretty much all the Royal Knights in general who treat you like a weakling."

"Hey, you did too, at first," Kuzuha pointed out.

"And did I or did I not start training you so you can kick some serious butt?"

"True…"

"I just wish we could have some decent time to train…but I have to get back to the Dark Area Castle soon and destroy Murmuxmon."

"I know, Beelzemon," Kuzuhamon said. "Why don't we go to sleep? Maybe things will look better when we wake up?"

"Good idea," he said, flopping down onto his bed. Kuzuhamon smiled at him and crawled into her own. "Now, you know I was just kidding when I said that thing about you being cold, right?"

"Oh shut up," she said, throwing a pillow at him. "Now, about that kamikaze mission Takato mentioned…"

"Oh……that…" Beelzemon said. "Well, I felt bad about what I did to Jeri's partner, and when she was the D-Reaper's prisoner, I tried to save her. That…almost killed me. I wasn't as aware as I shoulda been, and I got badly hurt."

"I see……well, at least you survived, right?"

"Yeah. I just wish I could make up for what I did."

"You will," Kuzuhamon said. "Actually, since you tried to save her, I think she may have already forgiven you."

"Good point," Beelzemon said. "We should get some sleep, now."

"All right," Kuzuhamon said. "Good night, Beelzemon."

"Night, Kuzuha," he said.

The next morning, when Kuzuha checked Beelzemon's wounds, she found that they had finally healed completely.

"Looks like you can go home now," Kuzuhamon said, a bit sad that he'd healed that fast.

"After breakfast, okay?" he said as he pulled on the bits and pieces of his outfit that had been left unworn for the past couple of days, such as his boots and gloves. He finished dressing, all but for the scarf he normally wore tied around his left arm.

"Aren't you gonna put that on?" Kuzuha asked.

"Eh. You keep it. What with you bein' all sad about me goin' back to the World of Darkness and all, I figured you'd need _something_ to keep you sane."

"I'll be fine," Kuzuha said. "But thanks, Beelzemon. Who knew you had a soft side?"

"Just don't let it get around, ya know? I have a reputation, Kuzuhamon."

"Don't the other Demon Lords think you're dead?"

"So?"

Kuzuhamon just laughed and hugged him. "You'll be careful, right?"

"Yeah, I'll be careful, Kuzuhamon. I really don't want a repeat performance of a couple of days ago. That wasn't very fun."

"Imagine _my_ position. I had to bandage you! You're heavy."

"That isn't nice…you'll hurt my feelings with that kinda talk, Kuzuha…"

"You'll live, you lump."

"_Lump?_"

"Well, it's true. You're very lumpy."

"When you put it _that_ way……" he trailed off, smiling suggestively at his girlfriend.

"_Beelzemon!_" Kuzuha snapped, turning bright red.

"It was a thought…and _you're_ the one who brought it up."

"You _know_ what I meant."

"I most certainly did, Kuzuhamon," he said, giving her a quick kiss.

"……………………you…are a perverted little freak," Kuzuha growled.

The Demon Lord looked surprised and hurt at this.

"But…you're also _my_ freak," Kuzuhamon added, hugging him tightly. "Be careful, Beelzemon. I already lost everything else that mattered to me. Don't make me lose you, too," she told him, letting him go, small tears in her eyes.

"Kuzuha…" Beelzemon said, wiping them away. "I…I'll be fine."

"You better," Kuzuha said. "Otherwise I'm gonna find you and kick your butt!"

Beelzemon smiled at his girlfriend and went downstairs. "I'll see ya after this blows over," Beelzemon told her.

"Okay," Kuzuhamon said as he left. _Please…stay safe……_she thought, clutching the bandana to her.

In the library, Ophanimon was reading as the Demon Lord was making his way out.

"Are you going to go back to the castle?" Ophanimon asked.

"I have to. As much as I'd rather be here with Kuzuhamon, I have to go back because I'm needed more there," Beelzemon said.

"Thank you," the angel told him. "I know this must be hard, but I truly am thankful for what you've chosen to do for us."

"Yeah, well…Ophanimon?"

"Yes?"

"Will it ever be over? Will the Demon Lords ever really be beaten?" Beelzemon asked.

"I don't know. I hope it ends soon, but they have so many tricks up their sleeves…"

"I just…ah, never mind…I'll be back in a few days," he said.

Ophanimon smiled at the Demon Lord as he left the castle.

In the storage shed, Beelzemon tapped Behemoth to get the motorcycle's attention.

"Come on, we're goin' back."

Behemoth revved up, and then turned back to the castle.

"I know Kuzuha's still there. She can't come to the World of Darkness with us, you know that."

Behemoth turned around slowly towards the door and waited for Beelzemon to get on. Within minutes, Demon Lord and sentient motorcycle were speeding back to retake the title of Lord of Gluttony.

* * *

**Another chapter done! And this one will be a LOT longer than its predecessor, I promise. Master Copy: 75 pages and counting! (This chapter ended on page 39 on the Master Copy)  
I hope you enjoyed, and please review!**


	13. Reclaiming an Unwanted Throne

**I'm really sorry for the slowness...but I also just started my new college semester....(I know, excuses, excuses......RP chatrooms, drama, my friend finally getting me to watch the FMA anime series [the first one]........)**

**I DO have a life outside online, you know...I'm just reluctant to LIVE it....Because deviantART is so addictive.....I'm sorry this took so long.  
And, as always, I don't own Digimon. (If I did, Beelzemon and Kuzuhamon's relationship would be a canon thing...) And please review. It makes me happy to read and reply to them.  
**

**Chapter 13: Reclaiming an Unwanted Throne**

In the World of Darkness, Murmuxmon had undergone the entire preliminary coronation process to replace Beelzemon and was currently standing on the beach, watching the waves. The almost-Demon Lord had nearly secured his power, and he had Phelesmon to thank for it.

"I've almost achieved my goals……" he said to the Dark Ocean. "At long last……I can truly make my mark upon this accursed Digital World and truly let it know who owns it."

"Master Murmuxmon?" Neodevimon said from behind him. "Lord Daemon has instructed me to take you to your new quarters to await your coronation."

"All right then," Murmuxmon said, turning and following the Ultimate (and therefore, in Murmuxmon's opinion, _lesser_) back to the fortress.

Once there, Neodevimon showed the Mega level to his new quarters – namely, _Beelzemon's_. The rooms themselves were actually quite beautiful – even if everything was done up in black. There was the main sleeping room, of course, a closet (which, in Beelzemon's case, was a shortcut to the garage), and a fountain area that was surprisingly beautiful, especially considering that they were in the fortress of the Demon Lords.

"So these rooms are mine?" Murmuxmon said.

"Officially after the coronation, yes."

"I see. Thank you, Neodevimon," Murmuxmon said. Neodevimon bowed and left the rooms, leaving the Mega alone in the room.

"Finally……all my hard work…it pays off!" Murmuxmon said, laughing. "Hmm…I wonder if the late Lord Beelzemon would mind I looked through his things…see what he did, squandering his time away……" he mused, going over to a chest of drawers and opening it. Inside were some little things that Beelzemon had apparently collected over his time as a Demon Lord. A toy gun, some coins that looked like money from the human world, a drawing of him as Impmon with twin children, a boy and a girl – obviously done by either one of those children, a strange bronze pendants with odd writing carved into it, and……

Murmuxmon froze.

In the bottom of the drawer was a set of little photographs, obviously taken in a photo booth in the human world. In the first three, there was a young couple in them – the girl in her late teens, perhaps nineteen, was smiling, and the man who looked about twenty-one looked embarrassed being in there. Strangely enough, the man looked like a human version of Beelzemon. Both humans were each also wearing a bronze pendant.

It was in the last photo that Murmuxmon was truly astonished. The girl had managed to snatch her companion's pendant away and had also removed her own.

And the girl wasn't a girl, as was the young man not really a man. Instead of the humans in the first three pictures, the last had Beelzemon in it with a violet Sakuyamon. It was obvious that they'd disguised themselves with the pendants.

_Hm…that must be Kuzuhamon, part of Lord Barbamon's failed Chaos Form experiment. But she's with Beelzemon…and Kuzuhamon…disappeared…Beelzemon's a traitor!_ Murmuxmon came to the realization. "He betrays the Demon Lords for _humans_ and some failed experimental _tramp?_ What could a Demon Lord _possibly_ find interesting with the _human world?_ Or, for that matter, a pathetic little Digimon like that Kuzuhamon brat?"

A shadow moved over by the fountain, and Murmuxmon looked over at the seemingly empty room.

"Who's there? Who dares trespass in my domain?" Murmuxmon shouted.

"It ain't yer domain, idiot," Beelzemon said from behind him, coming out of the shadows in his Blast Mode. Berenjena was attached to his right arm and ready to fire. "It's still mine."

"Ah…the _traitor…_I found your pictures of you and your little girlfriend in the _human_ world. What could have possessed you to take up with some Digimon that Lord Barbamon experimented on? I mean, it's not even like that Kuzuhamon is a real Digimon form," Murmuxmon said, turning his back on the Demon Lord. As soon as he finished speaking, he could feel the gun pointed at the back of his head. "Was it something I said?"

"Don't you _dare_ talk about Kuzuhamon like that," Beelzemon growled. "I'm with her because I love her – something a loser like _you_ couldn't understand."

"Oh? You fell in love with her? Hard to believe that a Demon Lord could feel such things."

"Hey, anything's possible," Beelzemon said with false humor.

"Hmm…indeed. But still……you aren't walking out of here alive."

"I got outta the last one alive," the Lord of Gluttony said.

"Which begs the question, Lord Beelzemon – how _did_ you get out of that last meeting alive? Phelesmon gave his existence to kill you, and yet here you stand," Murmuxmon said.

"I told you – I have a girlfriend. She and her allies saved me."

"So it would seem…" Murmuxmon said. "Though, I must say…after I kill you…I will take great pleasure in making your little wench scream. Oh, and did you know I can shapeshift? She can fall into oblivion, thinking that her precious Demon Lord has betrayed her and cursing his name."

"You're gonna regret that…" Beelzemon growled. "But if you could shapeshift this whole time, why not just disguise yourself as me to begin with?"

"Because…I wish to enact my own will upon the Digital World, not have it be hidden by an inferior Digimon's name," Murmuxmon said.

"I see…and ya had this whole little plan all figured out from the beginning?" Beelzemon asked.

"Yes, I did. And now to remove the last obstacle standing in my way – Gehenna Flame!" Murmuxmon shouted, launching a blast of dark fire at Beelzemon. "I'll revel in your slow suffering…"

"Man, can your speeches get any more clichéd?" Beelzemon said, shaking his left arm where it had been lightly singed. "At least come up with some original material before you try and be evil. Don't use those old, cheesy villain lines. That's just embarrassing."

"Silence! Dark Blast!"

"Death Slinger!" Beelzemon shouted, firing at the usurper. "Darkness Claw!" he shouted, slashing at Murmuxmon.

"Gehenna Flame! 01 Crusher!" Murmuxmon roared, striking back.

"Corona Destroyer!" Beelzemon shouted, firing the huge dark blast into Murmuxmon's torso, burning a massive hole into the other Mega.

Murmuxmon stumbled back in shock and fell to the ground. Data began seeping out of his stomach and formed his Fractal Code. "H-how……? An _Ultimate_ almost killed you…and yet you can defeat _me?_"

"Phelesmon sucker-punched me and poisoned me. You're just a chump. And ya know, I'm not a traitor."

"What makes you say that?" Murmuxmon spat.

"I've been working for the Great Angels this whole time. I can't betray you if I'm not on your side. And I'm gonna stop the Demon Lords so I can live with my girlfriend in peace, and so my Tamers don't have to fight."

"T-_Tamers?!_ No…I gained this strength without giving up anything…I'm stronger than you!" Murmuxmon whispered.

"Well in a second, you're gonna be history!" Beelzemon shouted. "Fractal Code, Digitize!" he shouted, taking the Code and absorbing it. "Tch. Not even worth my time."

Beelzemon reverted back to his normal-style form and carefully placed everything back in the drawer where it belonged. The pendant that he used to disguise himself as a human biker, the picture Ai and Mako had worked on together of them and him, the……photo booth pictures that Kuzuhamon had bugged him into doing with her, some spare change from their last date in the human world, and the toy gun Mako had given Beelzemon to use. Beelzemon smiled at the items and safely secured them further back in the drawer so no one could find them.

_I need a better place to hide those things,_ Beelzemon said as he left his room to go to the target range. He'd gotten out of practice since getting poisoned.

On his way to the range, a black and red Digimon ran into the Demon Lord.

"Ow!" Beelzemon said. "Watch it!"

"Oh, sorry!" Femur said. "I have to get going! Lord Daemon gave me a mission! I'm supposed to…uh……oh, well, it'll come to me," he said before going off. "Bye!" _I wonder why he looked so familiar…well, he _is_ a Demon Lord, I see him all the time. But there's a strange nagging feeling……oh well. He hasn't done anything to me,_ Femur thought, still not remembering that the Digimon in question he'd been so polite to (another demon failing that Femur the Skullsatamon had – he was awfully polite to the higher-ups) was the same one that had killed his family.

Beelzemon continued along his way to the training area, and was almost there when he saw Daemon walking over to the Coronation Chamber.

"So you survived……" the Demon Lord of Wrath said to the Demon Lord of Gluttony.

"Ain't it just irritating for you, Daemon? You lost your chance to get another on your side for when you plan to overthrow Lucemon."

"I have no idea what you mean, Beelzemon."

"Don't act dumb. I know you're planning to replace us with drones you control or sweet-talk us to your side so when Lucemon reawakens, you can depose him and take charge," Beelzemon said.

"Your point?" Daemon said. "Lucemon is, at the moment, incapable of doing anything to lead. Maybe a change in power will bring us closer to victory."

"You're crazy," Beelzemon said.

"What's wrong, Beelzemon? Jealous that I will take control of the Demon Lords?"

"Not really. Do I look like Leviamon to you?"

Daemon just smirked and walked away, leaving Beelzemon alone in the corridor.

_Weirdo…_Beelzemon thought as he continued along his way to the target range. Once there, he took out the rest of his bad mood on a few dummies, and afterwards, felt better – a little. It was kinda hard to though, considering that he basically gave up living with Kuzuhamon to go back to the World of Darkness to reclaim a position he hadn't even wanted in the first place.

* * *

**Well, that's another chapter down. I'm proud of this one....the long-awaited scene............**

**Also, if you go to my profile and go to the end......there is a link to the FIRST EVER BeelzemonXKuzuhamon picture. I love my deviantART friends~  
And please review!  
**


	14. To the Human World

**To apologize for my recent.....hiatus......(Which I will try to prevent again....)......here's another chapter! Yep....massive scene change.........I apologize for the length....but this was the only place I could satisfactorily cut it off......hey, at least it makes up for my month-long absence.  
**

**Chapter 14: To the Human World**

A couple of days later at Light Castle, Nefertimon and Ophanimon approached the trio of 'employees'.

"Lady Ophanimon and Mistress Nefertimon, may we help you?" the three of them said, bowing (or as close to bowing as Labramon could get) to the sisters.

"We have something we'd like the three of you to do today," Ophanimon said. "Nefertimon?"  
"There's a particular program my oldest daughter's been working on that will help us create better defenses for Light Castle," the sphinx said. "She told me yesterday that it's been completed, so I'd like for the three of you to go get it."

"Where does she live?" Kuzuha asked.

"My daughter, Salamon – or, as you may know her, Lady Magnadramon – lives in the human world."

"Um…wouldn't Noah and Labramon themselves be better choices? I'm not that familiar with the layout of human cities…" Kuzuha asked tentatively.

"That's why you're going with Noah, so you can learn," Nefertimon said. "Plus, it'll be a good opportunity for you to meet Salamon."

"As you wish, Mistress Nefertimon. But how will we get there?"

"The Trailmon can travel between our worlds again, now that the Human Terminal has been repaired," Ophanimon said.

"Okay, then," Kuzuhamon said.

"When do we leave?" Noah asked.

"Whenever you're ready," the Great Angel told them.

"I'll get that pendant, then," Kuzuhamon said before going up to her room. She gave a small, regretful sigh at the space Beelzemon had a bed for a single night. Quietly, Kuzuhamon grabbed the bronze pendant from her nightstand and slipped it around her neck, shifting her form from fox priestess to biker's girlfriend and turning her staff into an odd little necklace. _I wonder if Beelzemon deliberately asked for my human appearance to be like his…_Kuzuha thought as she left her room.

Once downstairs, the human Kuzuhamon met up with Labramon and Noah who were waiting by the large doors.

"Let's go, Kuzuhamon!" Labramon shouted.

"You do know you can't talk in the human world, right?" Nefertimon explained. "You'll have to act like a normal dog."

"Rats! Why? There are humans who know about Digimon!"

"And yet not all do. Some are frightened. You don't want to draw malice on us, do you?"

"Oh……Okay, I'll be good," Labramon said.

"Let's get going," Noah said to his two Digimon companions.

"All right," Kuzuha said. "Lady Ophanimon, Mistress Nefertimon, if Beelzemon comes…"

"Tell him where you are? Of course," Nefertimon said.

"Thank you," Kuzuhamon said before leaving.

Labramon wordlessly trotted after Noah, wanting to get used to acting like a normal dog before going to the human world.

Together, the trio went to Light Terminal and boarded a Trailmon for the human world.

**The Human World**

Kuzuhamon, Labramon, and Noah had just arrived in the bustling human world at midday. After a bit of careful maneuvering through the crowds, the trio managed to get out of the train station and across the street.

"Man, I thought we'd never get outta there," Noah said as Labramon shook himself as if to agree.

"Me, too," Kuzuha said, sitting on a bench. "Where are we supposed to find Lady Magnadramon, anyway?"

Noah pulled out a piece of paper with some directions written on it. "A lake in the middle of a forest…not very specific, but then, maybe that's all they know about where Lady Magnadramon can be found."

"Well that stinks. I guess we just have to start looking," Kuzuha said.

"You're right," Noah said.

"Noah? Kuzuhamon? What're you doin' here?" Takato asked, running over to them with Guilmon following closely behind.

"We have to find Lady Magnadramon to get something she's been working on that's going to help Light Castle," Kuzuha said.

"Lady Magnadramon? Who is she?" Guilmon asked.

"She's better known to you as Salamon," Noah said.

"Salamon's a Great Angel?" Takato said incredulously.

"Yeah. She's the Lady of Beast Types."

"Cool," Takato said. "Want me to help you find her?"

"Sure," Noah said.

While the others were talking, Labramon had gotten insanely bored with not talking and had wandered off even before Takato had shown up. The canine Digimon wandered through the park and eventually came across Henry, Terriermon, Rika, and Renamon all standing together and talking.

"Where is that goggle head?" Rika growled. "He was supposed to meet up with us by now."

"Well, maybe his parents gave him a chore or something," Henry said.

"He better hurry up," Rika snapped.

"Maybe it's Guilmon's appetite again," Terriermon said. "He could eat an entire supermarket's worth of food."

"Terriermon……" Henry sighed.

"Momentai, Henry!"

Rika just rolled her eyes.

While Henry and Rika continued to talk (with several interruptions from Terriermon), Renamon was staring off into the bushes and directly at Labramon.

"There's someone there," Renamon said, cutting off Terriermon mid-sentence.

"Show yourself!" Rika shouted.

Labramon didn't move. _Maybe I should go back……_he thought, starting to leave. The canine stepped on a twig and cringed. _Or maybe I was better off where I was……_

"Diamond Storm!" Renamon yelled, sending the attack Labramon's way. Labramon yelped and dodged, the attack barely hitting him on one of his forelegs. "Who are you?"

"Labramon," he growled, limping over to stand in front of the two Tamers and their partners.

"Why were you lurking?" Terriermon asked.

"I was bored, so I went exploring. Is that a crime?" Labramon retorted. "Dumb bunny, pretending to be a dog…" he added in a mutter.

"Hey! I heard that!" Terriermon shouted. "At least I'm not some mangy _dog!_"

"Yeah, and? At least I'm not a stupid _bunny_ named _after _a dog! Talk about identity crisis!"

"If you're going to antagonize us, Labramon, I suggest you leave," Renamon said.

"You're not my boss!" Labramon growled. "And you attacked me unprovoked!"

"I thought you were a threat."

"Obviously _not_. I haven't attacked you," Labramon said before adding under his breath, "Beelzemon was _right_, you _are_ a stuck up fox-face…"

"Beelzemon?" the four said in unison.

"You know him?" Henry asked.

"Yeah. Me an' him are friends."

"Hmph, _figures_ he's friends with Impmon," Terriermon grumbled.

"Better an imp than a _bunny pretending to be a dog!_" Labramon growled.

"Oh, that's it! Bunny Blast!" Terriermon yelled, launching his attack.

"Retri Bark!" Labramon shouted, sending his own attack of shockwaves at the horned rabbit. The attacks collided and caused an explosion, and while Terriermon was thrown back by the backlash, the injured Labramon managed to stay standing.

"But how? You're injured!" Terriermon said in shock.

"Dimwit rabbit! I train with Royal Knights all the time, some stupid backlash isn't gonna faze _me!_"

"Is that supposed to impress me? Terrier Tornado!" Terriermon shouted, attacking again.

Labramon dodged, shouting, "Retri Bark!" the attack struck Terriermon in the side, and sent the big-eared mammal crashing into the ground.

"Man, you're strong…you must have a good Tamer," Terriermon conceded.

"I don't have a Tamer," Labramon said.

"You don't?"

"I'll fight you. Renamon's stronger than you are," Rika challenged.

"Diamond Storm!" Renamon shouted, sending the attack at the canine Digimon.

"Retri Bark!" Labramon shouted, managing to deflect the projectiles with the shockwave attack. Shortly after the first wave, he sent out a second one that struck Renamon in the side.

Renamon groaned in pain and sunk to one knee.

"Renamon!" Rika shouted.

"He's tougher than he looks."

"You can take him," Rika said. "Strong though he is, you can still take him down. You ready?"

"Yes," Renamon said, standing.

"Digi Modify!" Rika shouted, swiping a card through her D-Power Digivice. "Digivolution Activate!"

"Renamon Digivolve to…………Kyubimon!" Renamon cried out, transforming into her four legged, nine tailed fox form.

"So?" Labramon said defiantly.

Meanwhile, Takato, Guilmon, Noah, and Kuzuha were all looking for the wayward canine, and had made it to a few feet from where Labramon had been discovered.

"I hope Labramon's okay…" Takato said.

"Maybe he found food," Guilmon chimed in hopefully.

"I don't think that's the case, Guilmon," Noah told him.

"Noah…" Kuzuha said, tugging on the 'human's' sleeve. "I think you should see this."

"See what?" Noah asked, looking down into the clearing to see Kyubimon begin to attack Labramon. "No!" he shouted, grabbing the mysterious sword hilt. By itself, it looked like a golden piece of metal with a display screen the same as a D-Power, but as Noah turned it in his hand, a great blade appeared out of it, making it look like a broadsword.

"Oooh, pretty," Guilmon said.

In the clearing, Kyubimon began her attack.

"Dragon Wheel!" the Champion level called out, attacking the tinier canine.

"Seiken Grade Beta!" Noah shouted from where he stood, dashing out from where he and the others were standing and cutting the flame dragon in half with the glowing blade before it could reach Labramon.

Kyubimon landed back on the ground with a stunned expression on her face.

"Hey, I thought you said you didn't have a Tamer!" Terriermon said as Kyubimon turned back into Renamon.

"He doesn't," Noah said, standing up.

"Noah! Labramon!" Kuzuhamon shouted, running up to them. Takato and Guilmon followed close behind her, and stopped as they got to Henry and Terriermon.

"Takato," Henry said. "What's goin' on?"

"It's complicated…" Takato said.

"If this is gonna be one of your lame excuses as to why you keep disappearing on weekends, save it," Rika snarled before turning back on Labramon. "And _you!_ Why did you lie and say you have no Tamer?"

"I don't!" Labramon said.

"Then who's the kid trying to protect you?" Rika asked scathingly.

"My coworker," Labramon said.

"Labramon's right," Noah said. "I'm not his Tamer. I'm not _anyone's _Tamer."

"Then why do you have a Digimon?" Rika asked.

"He's my companion," Noah explained. "I don't even have a D-Power, okay? No cards, nothin'." And to emphasize his point, he revealed his belt, which, except for the holder for the Beta Inforce Sword hilt, was bare.

"But then…you can't have a Digimon, right? He's one of those 'Wild Ones'," Henry said.

"Yamaki's gonna have a field day with this. 'Course, I may have to bring that mutt to him myself…" Terriermon grumbled.

"Why don't you have a D-Power?" Renamon asked.

"Because having a D-Power means that, technically, you can Bio-Merge, right?" Noah asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Henry told the seemingly twelve-year-old.

"Bio-Merging requires a _biological_ part," Noah said. "I'm not biological anymore."

"Anymore?" Rika asked.

"When I was twelve……I kinda got hit by a car that paralyzed me from the neck down. My father transferred my mind into a supercomputer, and I've had a physically twelve-year-old body ever since. I'm as much made up of data as your Digimon are."

"That would explain the lack of a D-Power," Renamon said. "How old are you now, Noah?"

"Hmm…….about nineteen or twenty."

The early teenage Tamers just stared at him.

"Whoa," Terriermon said. "So wait……you live in the Digital World?"

"Yes. I have for about a year."

"Bet Zhuqiaomon loves that," the rabbit said.

"Actually, I serve under one of the Great Angels. The Lady of Human Types, Ophanimon. I live in Light Castle in the Light Terminal," Noah said.

"What about her? You're Kuzuhamon, right?" Rika said, turning to the 'teenager'.

"Yeah……wait, how did you know?" Kuzuha asked, becoming very defensive.

"Pizza place," Henry said.

"You're not gonna be a combination of Rika and Renamon just because your real form looks like Sakuyamon, right?" Terriermon asked.

"No……I'm a whole different Digimon. And I don't appreciate being stereotyped because of the fact I'm the Chaos Sakuyamon. He was right, you _are_ an irritating rabbit."

"Let me guess, Beelzemon?" Terriermon asked.

"Yeah," Kuzuhamon replied.

"Why do you guys even put _up_ with him?" Terriermon asked.

Kuzuhamon sighed. "There's no getting around it. I 'put up' with Beelzemon because he's my boyfriend."

The look on Terriermon's face was priceless.

"Y-you're……h-h-his……_girlfriend?!_ What on Earth could you possibly see in him?!" the rabbit asked, unable to believe that such a thing was possible. The look on his face was so stupefied, that if said Demon Lord was in the park, Terriermon would have inevitably been the recipient of a series of torturous insults from the Demon Lord himself.

Kuzuha, being the nice Digimon she was, didn't say a word on that matter.

"Beelzemon, despite his……rather abrasive nature, is really caring. He's taught me how to control my powers. Beelzemon's my best friend," Kuzuhamon told Terriermon.

"I guess there really _is_ someone for everyone," Renamon said.

"And what is _that_ supposed to mean?" Kuzuha asked the yellow fox.

"Even though Beelzemon has made some poor choices in his life, he's still found someone who can see past that and care for him," Renamon stated.

"Oh," Kuzuha said. "Sorry. Do any of you know where we can find Lady Magnadramon, by the way?"

"Who's Lady Magnadramon?" Henry asked.

"Salamon," Noah said.

"No idea," Rika replied. "We haven't really seen her much."

"Well, that stinks," Kuzuhamon said.

"Yeah. Now, goggle-head……how do you know these guys?" Rika asked.

"It's kinda got a lot to do with why I'm gone on so many weekends," Takato said sheepishly.

"All right, let's hear your lame excuse," Rika told him, rolling her eyes.

"I'm one of the Royal Knights. Well, me an' Guilmon are."

"What's a Royal Knight?" Henry asked.

"The Royal Knights are the strongest warriors in the Digital World," Noah said. "A few weeks ago, Lord Alphamon recruited Takato and Guilmon because they needed their combined power as Gallantmon."

"And bein' one of the Knights is no cake walk, either," Labramon added. "They're constantly keeping in top condition to fight the evil Demon Lords…well, all but three."

"Who are the three?" Renamon asked. "And why can't they fight?"

"Because if Belphemon, Lord of Sloth, is in the battle, he'd be in his Rage Mode destroying everything in sight. Since he isn't, then he's in Sleep Mode and……not battling. Lucemon, Lord of Pride, and leader of the Demon Lords, was seriously _pwned_ a few months ago, and is undergoing reconstruction," Labramon said. "Then there's the Lord of Gluttony…and he can't fight because……"

"The Demon Lord of Gluttony is Beelzemon," Renamon finished, piecing it together.

"Yeah," Kuzuhamon said. "He's on our side, but he's spying, and the others think he's pure evil."

"Coulda fooled _us_," Terriermon growled.

"What do you mean?" Kuzuha asked.

"Well, considering he tried to _kill_ us when we were in the Digital World," Terriermon said. "And not to mention one of our group was a little _kid!_"

"What?" Kuzuha asked.

"Well, it's true! It was all part of a deal for power."

"Deal for power?"

"When he was still Impmon, he made a deal with Caturamon that if Caturamon gave Impmon the power to Digivolve straight into Mega, he'd kill all of us," Terriermon said. "And he almost succeeded."

Kuzuhamon's eyes narrowed at the rabbit-dog. Beelzemon hadn't told her _that. _"How do I know you're not _lying?_"

"Would I lie?"

"You don't seem to be fond of Beelzemon, so probably, yeah."

"Yeah, I don't really like him, but I'm telling the truth!"

"Maybe we should find Lady Magnadramon now," Noah said to his two Digimon companions, trying to head off a war between Terriermon and Kuzuhamon and Labramon.

"Good idea," Labramon said as he began to walk away.

"You're right, Labramon," Kuzuha said while doing the same.

Noah just sighed and ran after his best friends, immensely glad he hadn't told them that he'd been the original creator of Lucemon. If they reacted badly to a Digimon Demon Lord...he had no way of knowing how they'd react to the one who'd _created_ a Demon Lord.

* * *

**Well, this is another chapter gone......and again, my apology for not updating sooner...so now you have two. I hope you enjoyed the beginning of the "Human World arc"......and all the stuff that happens........(and believe me...things only get more hectic...)**


	15. The Fourth Angel

**Sorry for the delay, all. But now I have an actual REASON!  
Midterms.  
And SoulSilver. :3  
(my apologies for the emote)  
Anyway, as usual, I don't own anything! But NOW I get to intro one of my older Digimon Characters. I don't own him, but I DO own his past and personality.  
And as we've all established by now, the plot.  
(And check out my profile for links to Beelzemon/Kuzuhamon fanart, please? I didn't draw them, but the one who DID I got addicted to them)  
Oh, and don't forget to review, please. I enjoy new things in my inbox.  
**

**Chapter 15: The Fourth Angel**

The oddly matched trio wandered through the streets of Tokyo, looking around for any possible sign of the Rookie Digimon Angel.

"Won't it be a bit hard to find a tiny Digimon in this city, though?" Kuzuha asked.

"According to Mistress Nefertimon, Lady Magnadramon actually generally looks like a fourteen-year-old cat girl," Noah said. "Anyway, we're not gonna just _run into_ – ow!" Noah was cut off as he ran into a boy of about fifteen years.

The teenager had bright, crayon red hair with crayon blue ends that reached his shoulders. He had a trench coat on that was also red with the bottom half of the coat also sporting a blue pattern. The boy also had on a black shirt, blue jeans, and black boots. He essentially looked like a street punk.

"Please watch where you're goin'," the teen said in a voice that wasn't amused.

"You weren't either," Noah pointed out.

"And your point? You don't look behind you when you're walking, _baka_."

"Maybe if you'd _paid attention_ you wouldn't have anyone run into you!" Noah growled, annoyed at the seemingly older teen for being essentially a speed bump.

"Noah, this isn't worth drawing attention to ourselves," Kuzuha said, trying to pull the 'preteen' away from the strange teenager.

"You're right, Kuzuhamon," Noah sighed in resignation. "Let's go."

"Wait a minute – you're a Digimon?" the teen asked them, suddenly dropping his annoyed expression.

Noah froze. _Oh no, he's gonna be one of those intolerant humans…_

"Yes…" Kuzuhamon said.

"Oh, cool, there're more of us now," the teen said with a roguish grin that reminded Kuzuha vaguely of Beelzemon. "I'm Elecmon – or just Lec, since we're among normal humans."

"My name is Kuzuhamon," she replied, inclining her head.

"I'm Labramon."

"I'm……not a Digimon," Noah said, quickly explaining how he came to be digital.

"Okay…so, why're you here?" Lec asked.

"We're here looking for Lady Magnadramon," Kuzuha said. "Do you know where she is?"  
"Yeah. She's one of my friends, actually," Lec replied. "Her Tamer and mine are friends."

"She is?" Labramon asked in a whisper.

Lec nodded. "C'mon, I'll take you to her."

"Well, it's the only lead we've got," Kuzuha said to her companions. "Let's go."

Noah and Labramon nodded and the trio began following Elecmon to their destination.

The wayward trio eventually followed Lec to a lake in the middle of a forest. It was a beautiful place, with soft grass and flowers along the shore. In the middle of the lake was a small, rocky island.

"This is your 'secret hideout'? It's so cool!" Labramon said, running around the lake. He hadn't seen a place like that since he moved to Light Castle.

"Yeah, well, we've still got a bit to go. We have to get out to that island," Lec said. "Anyone have a boat?"

"No, but Dobermon can ferry us across," Noah said. "Labramon, we need you to Digivolve! Come here!"  
"Okay!" Labramon said, running back to the others. Noah reached down and gave a basic Digivolution Core to his companion. "Labramon Digivolve to…………Dobermon!" he shouted, metamorphosing into his large Champion form.

Noah, Kuzuhamon, and Elecmon all got on the large canine's back, and they were at the tiny island in no time.

"Okay…where's the door?" Labramon asked after having reverted to his Rookie level.

"All this place is made of is stone," Kuzuha pointed out.

"Not entirely," Lec said before going up to one of the stones and whacking it with one hand. "Visitors!"

The face of the rock opened to reveal an entryway that led underground. It was like a steep staircase that spiraled downwards into a room unknown.

"Ladies first," Lec said to Kuzuhamon.

"You're too kind," she murmured, descending first into the stairwell with the Noah, Labramon, and finally Lec following her.

The stairwell spiraled down and eventually came to a short hallway ending in a door. Lec strode up to it and opened the door, revealing a beautiful underground/underwater base. It looked like a _home_, just underwater. There was even a panel of glass as one wall, offering a beautiful view of under the lake. The space they were in was like a living room, and sitting at the table working on something on a laptop was a cat girl with white-blonde hair, ears, and tail, matching clothes, and a gold ring around her neck.

"Lady Magnadramon," Lec bowed.

This_ is Lady Magnadramon? She really _does_ look like a kid! _Kuzuhamon thought. "It's an honor to meet you, Lady Magnadramon. You certainly have a pretty home," she said, bowing. (she was not gonna _attempt_ a curtsy in a miniskirt)

"Oh, this isn't my home," Salamon said, looking up. "This is where my friends and I hang out a lot."

"Then……why…?"

"Well, there's always at least _one_ of us staying here," Salamon said. "So it does have to look nice."

"More Digimon hang out here?"

"Well, there's five of us," Lec said. "Me, Lady Magnadramon, Floramon, Calumon, and Princess Nyaromon."

"Nyaromon's a demon now, Lec," Salamon said.

"Oh yeah…I keep forgetting that."

"This place is really cool though," Labramon said. "So, you both have Tamers?"

"Yes," Salamon said. "Now, what brings the three of you here?"

"We came to get a program your mother requested," Noah told her. While he was a brilliant mind, he acknowledged that not even _he_ could have invented a device that let the user travel through time and space. The feline Digimon's intellect far surpassed Noah's and he _knew_ it. "Is it ready?"

"Yeah," Salamon said, handing over a computer chip to the green haired 'human'. "So…Labramon's your 'partner'?" Salamon asked.

"I sure am, Lady Magnadramon," Labramon said.

The Rookie Great Angel looked at Kuzuhamon. "And that makes _you_ Kuzuhamon, Beelzemon's girlfriend."

"Your mother told you about us, I see," Kuzuhamon said. "I…heard you preferred your Rookie form, but I didn't realize you looked _this_ young…"

"It was something my little sister got me into…humanoid forms. She was picked to be a Xiaolin Monk, and that's pretty much how it all started. Sorry if the human form caused any……inconvenience…"

"Inconvenience?"

Salamon pointed at an Elecmon who was finding it hard not to stare at the fox woman and her…obviously feminine appearance. The short skirt and corset-like top didn't help matters.

"What?!" Lec growled, not even realizing he was blushing.

"Lec, you aren't fooling anyone," Salamon told him, tapping her foot on the ground as though she were addressing a small child - something quite humorous considering that Salamon was physically younger than Elecmon.

"Um……" the Electric Digimon trailed off.

"I already have a boyfriend, Elecmon," Kuzuha told the younger Digimon (he looked only fifteen). "Plus…your…human form is fifteen. Mine is nineteen. Wouldn't people find that a bit strange?"

"Maybe we only look in our human forms how we _wanna_ look," Lec said. "Besides…………Beelzemon doesn't sound all that strong to me…" he added, not even realizing that saying those words was a big mistake.

"Beelzemon is one of the strongest Digimon I have ever known," Kuzuhamon growled. "Don't you _dare _insult him!"

"Sorry!" Lec said. "You must really love him, then, if you're defending him like that," the electric Digimon pointed out.

"Yeah. I do love Beelzemon," Kuzuhamon said with an indignant tone. "Are you suggesting I don't?"

"Okay, then," Lec said. "I'm sorry, by the way."

"I forgive you," Kuzuha said, looking away.

"Now that we've established _that_," Salamon said. "I'll go call my mom and tell her you have the program," she told them before getting up and leaving the room.

"Well, that coulda gone worse," Labramon told Elecmon. "She coulda killed you."

"I don't doubt it," Lec said. "Is she really that powerful?"

"Especially since Beelzemon began training her, yeah," the canine said.

"Remind me to not get on her bad side," the red-and-blue-haired teen asked the dog.

"I will," Labramon told him.

In the other room, Salamon had called her mother in the Digital World through her computer.

_≠Ah, Salamon! I'm assuming that they got the program?҂_ Nefertimon asked from the other end._  
_

"Yeah, they did, Mom. Prefer they come back themselves?"

_҂Well, since no one else knows of that program's existence, then it should be – oh my. Beelzemon's here, and he doesn't look too happy.҂_

"Um, hide?"

In the Digital World, Neferti – well, _Gato_mon (she Degenerated [moving down on the Digivolution ladder] and went into 'human' form so she could use the phone) looked up from the phone to see Beelzemon walk into Light Castle.

"Hi……" Gatomon said to the Demon Lord.

"Do you know where Kuzuhamon is?" he asked, voice low and dangerous.

_҂She's in the human world҂ _Salamon said from the other end of the phone.

"Salamon?" he asked in surprise.

_҂That's me҂_

"Why's Kuzuhamon with you?"

_҂She, Noah, and Labramon had to pick up a program that'll increase the defensive capabilities of Light Castle. But I think it'd be a good idea if you came here too, so that way I can program your data signature in so the defenses will leave you alone҂_

"Uh…all right," he said, leaving the room.

"Did you really need his help?" Gatomon asked her teenage daughter.

_҂Yeah, Mom. I figured to just get this out of the way since I still have it with me. Anyway, I better go supervise the other Digimon҂ _

"All right, Salamon," Gatomon said. "Tell Nyaromon I said hi, and make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble."

_҂I will҂_

"Good-bye."

_҂Bye, Mom҂ _Salamon said before hanging up.

Gatomon smiled and hung up the phone before going back to work.

_She's so much like her father......._Gatomon thought, remembering the small core of digital energy Wizardmon had left her. _You would have been so proud of her……._

With a soft sigh, the Cat Digimon returned to her workload.

* * *

**And there you go! Chapter 15 is done!**

**And I plan for more Elecmon abuse in the later chapters.**

**AND ABOUT SALAMON'S HUMANOID FORM WITH THE CAT TAIL AND EARS:  
The item used for Digimon to take a humanoid shape is a small bronze pendant with the energy stored inside it. But when it is first used by a Digimon and 'codes' to where only that Digimon can use it, the Digimon's thoughts on what their human form should look like transfer and are made real. Salamon (mine) identifies more with a cat and thus has a cat tail and cat ears.  
(It's my fanfiction, anyway)**

**And yeah, I threw in a little Wiz/Gato at the end. There is no way either of them would have acted the way they did in 01 or in his cameo in 02 and NOT have had something between them.**

**Anyways......review? Please?  
**


	16. Reunion of Old Friends

**I'M SO SORRY! Freaking school......I had so many tests..........and a drawing streak that wouldn't go down. I'll do my best to not let it get away from me like that again.  
As usual, I don't own a thing except the plot. Well....I own ONE thing..........  
**

**Reviews are nice and might make me work a little faster.  
**

**Chapter 16: Reunion of Old Friends  
**

In the human world, Beelzemon, in his human disguise, sped through the streets on Behemoth.

_Man, I haven't been in the human world during the day in ages,_ Beelzemon thought as he rode along. _Ever since……the D-Reaper…_he realized. Painful memories began to surge upward as he thought about it, and the Demon Lord was only just barely able to shake himself free of the dark thoughts that plagued him.

Fortunately (or _un_fortunately, depending how you look at it), something happened to snap him out of the past.

"So you've come here too, Beelzemon," Renamon said, waiting for the others to catch up.

"I take it you met Kuzuhamon, fox face," the Demon Lord said.

"I have," Renamon said as the other Tamers and Digimon caught up to them.

"Hi, Beelzemon. It's been a while," Henry said, doing his best to be friendly.

"Did you know Kuzuhamon's here?" Guilmon asked.

"Yeah, pineapple-head, I _did_ know. You guys know where she is?"

"She, Noah, and Labramon all left about five minutes ago. They're lookin' for Sala – I mean, Lady Magnadramon," Takato said.

"I know they're with her, I just want to know _where_ they are."

"Well, we don't know _that…_" Takato admitted. "All what Noah told me was that she was in a forest with a lake in it."

"Well, it's more than what I've got," Beelzemon said. He noticed Terriermon rubbing a sore spot on his ear. "What's wrong? Cat bite you?" he sneered.

"Stupid Labramon…and his stupid Retri Bark…figures you two are friends!"

Beelzemon laughed. "Well, my opinion of the little guy's grown a bunch now, thanks," he said to Terriermon. "You got your ears handed to you, rabbit."

"Shut up," Terriermon said, not amused by the event.

Beelzemon just rode off again. _Now…where am I gonna find a lake in the middle of a forest?_

As the Demon Lord waited for the light to change, he noticed that a couple of other people were on a bicycle, riding by.

It was strange, really, the layout of the bicycle – on the handlebars was a small seat where a little girl around Ai and Makoto's age, with long, pink hair and a collar, was strapped in and talking to the actual person on the bike. On the bicycle seat and pedaling was a boy of about seven or eight, but was a bit taller than normal, that Beelzemon could have _sworn _was familiar. The boy had a white t-shirt with a stiff, black leather vest over it and black jeans with black boots on. Around his neck was a strange amulet that seemed to glow. The boy himself had snowy-white hair that had violet ends, green eyes, and a familiar…triangle…pattern…

"Calumon?" Beelzemon said in shock. "Hey! Calumon!" he called over to the boy. The light changed, and he rode over and stopped a few feet ahead of the strange little Digimon.

"Huh? Oh, hi Beelzemon!" Calumon said cheerfully, stopping his own bicycle next to him. "How've you been?"

"Fine. So…who's the kid?" he nodded to the little girl. He noticed that the girl had a similar triangle pattern to Calumon's (only much smaller) and had purple eyes.

"My name is Saran," the girl said. "I'm one of the DearS race."

_One of those aliens…well, like _I'm_ one to talk._ "Oh. Okay."

"She's my little sister. We kinda adopted each other recently," Calumon said, smiling up at the Demon Lord. There was something strange about the child, though…as if…

"Okay, normally you're off-the-wall hyper. Who are you, and what have you done with the creampuff?"

"I have a Tamer now, you know that. I've dealt with a lot recently, and haven't really had the privilege to be my old self. Somewhere along the way……I just kinda changed to fit my new personality."

"Okay…so, what's your new personality like?"

Calumon just smiled. "Well……" he said. "I'm a bit stronger than I was before. And I can Digivolve."

"Well good for you. What're your forms?" Beelzemon asked.

"Just one…Archemon, Mega level…that's all I can turn into. It took Princess Rini and me a while though, before I even could turn into that."

_Huh…kinda like me…jumping straight from Rookie to Mega. Wait…in Calumon's case…isn't he In-Training? Even more impressive,_ Beelzemon thought. "Hey, do ya know where Salamon is?"

"Lady Magnadramon? Of course. Why do you ask?" Calumon asked the older Digimon.

"Well, Kuzuhamon, Noah, and Labramon are there. Plus, Salamon needs my help wit' somthin'."

"Hm, is that Kuzuhamon girl your girlfriend?" Calumon asked.

"How'd you know?" Beelzemon asked, suddenly on the defensive.

"Princess Nyaromon's mother told her the last time she visited."

_Thanks a lot, Nefertimon,_ Beelzemon thought bitterly. "So, mind showing me where Salamon is?"

"All right," Calumon said, getting back on his bicycle. "Try and keep up."

Beelzemon shook his head and began speeding away. _Man, Calumon thinks he can outpace me on Behemoth with that little _bicycle?_ That poor, delusional kid – he needs to stop watching cartoo – what the heck?!_ He thought, stunned by the sight in front of him.

Calumon was not only keeping _pace_ with Beelzemon, but he had also pulled ahead on the little bike.

"Go, nii-chan!" Saran cheered for her brother, and Calumon _sped up._ Holy Beast looked Demon Lord in the eye before pulling away; pedaling faster than it should have been possible to do and yet still going slow enough for _Beelzemon_ to keep up. Beelzemon didn't pick up on this, though.

"Well, at least that's the limit of his speed," Beelzemon said, eventually following the Holy Beast and his alien sister to the middle of a forest with a beautiful lake in the largest clearing. In the center of that lake was a small island. "This is where you've all been living?"

"Sometimes. Our attic's kinda gettin' crowded."

"So……how're we gonna get out to that island?" Beelzemon asked.

Calumon laughed as he used to, and got off his bicycle. After getting Saran out of the seat and setting her onto the ground, he faced the Demon Lord.

"Can't you fly?" he asked.

"Maybe he forgot, nii-chan," Saran said, a devilish little glint in her eyes.

"Obviously I can," Beelzemon snapped, shifting into Blast Mode and flying into the air. "So…how're the two of _you_ gonna get up here? I ain't gonna carry you."

Calumon smiled up at Beelzemon and he began to glow. To Beelzemon's amazement, a pair of glowing angel wings unfurled from Calumon's back. Squealing in delight, Saran jumped onto Calumon's back, and in no time, the Holy Beast had joined the Demon Lord in the sky.

"How in the world…" Beelzemon said.

"It's a long story," Calumon said before flying over to the rocky island. Beelzemon shrugged and followed the young Digimon and his……sister…

Once there, Calumon was easily able to open the door to the hidden base. (because a certain electric Digimon who shall remain nameless *coughElecmoncough* left the door open a bit) When the door was opened, Calumon led them inside.

* * *

**Well, that's it for that chapter. Okay, about Calumon. I KNOW he's hyper and happy, but as I gave him a Tamer and made him be witness to the events of Frontier....he matured. The Digivolution helped.**

I know Calumon can't Digivolve in canon, but I wanted to give him some way to defend himself. So..........Archemon was born. (Archemon = Archangel Monster. I figure as the Crystal Matrix, if he HAD a Digivolution, it would be a powerful angel Digimon on the level of the Great Angels because of his power.)  
**Saran is NOT a DearS OC......she's a preexisting one I named before finding out what her name was.....But I came up with a way around the canon and tie both together. I know also that Calumon's wings are also not canon, and they tie into another fandom. A cookie to whomever guesses where they come from.**  
**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and please review on your way out.**


	17. Rivalry and Respect

**...I am aware it's been over two months. I know, what stupid excuse do I have now?  
I'm really trying, but dA's so freaking addictive..._  
Plus, I figured out how to draw again!  
I'm working on it, honest, I swear. I just have...1...2...13...other stories to do, too...and an RP online. Always the RP...  
ANYWAY...I'll get back to work on this again. *as soon as I figure out what the heck to do next *  
Also, if anyone cares what I've been drawing... Visit my deviantART account.**

**As always, I don't own jack squat because if I did...well, there would be a lot of things.  
**

**Chapter 17: Rivalry and Respect**

While the two Digimon and one alien made their way downstairs to meet up with the others, Lec was trying to talk to Kuzuhamon. And failing. Epically. Not that Kuzuha wasn't _trying _to be nice to the younger Digimon, but he…had the demeanor of a puppy.

"So…is your family worried about you at all since you came to Earth as a Tamer's partner?" Kuzuha asked.

"Orphan. The corrupted Legendary Warriors killed my family. What about yours?"

"They…it's complicated. I don't really wanna talk about it," Kuzuha said.

"You don't have to," Lec said.

_Once you get past the weird little-kid like personality, he's a nice Digimon,_ Kuzuha realized. _Actually…he kinda reminds me of Gazimon…_

"What _is_ Beelzemon like, anyway? I've only heard about him from Lady Magnadramon and Cal," Lec asked.

"Beelzemon's…different. He's killed hundreds of Digimon, I'm certain, but he's always kind and caring to me. I don't think he _could_ hurt me, even if he wanted to. He's…always got this control around me…But he's also protective. He tries his hardest to keep those he loves out of harm."

"He sounds pretty cool," Lec said.

"He is," Kuzuhamon said. "So…mind if I get a cup of water?" she asked her two hosts.

"Cups are over there," Lec pointed to the shelf behind Kuzuha.

"Thanks," the fox priestess Digimon said to the electric Digimon, turning to go get the item. The floor gleamed too brightly in the lights, though.

"Uh, Kuzuhamon, wait!" Salamon said, trying to stop the Mega. "I was just cleaning earlier, and the floor's still wet!"

"Huh?" Kuzuha asked, just as one of her thin, high heeled boots slipped out from under her on the tile floor.

"Watch it!" Lec shouted, rushing forward to knock her at the very least to the softer carpet.

Noah, Labramon, and Salamon flinched as Rookie and Mega tumbled on the floor to ultimately land with Kuzuhamon on the ground and with Elecmon on top of her in a…shall we say, _compromising _position. It was all topped off with Lec's head having landed on Kuzuha's chest – and causing said adolescent Rookie's face to light up into a brilliant red (a neat trick, since Digimon don't have blood).

And, of course, it was at this exact moment when Calumon and Saran led Beelzemon into the room. Beelzemon looked from Kuzuhamon, who looked too stunned to have fully registered something that had obviously just happened, to Elecmon, whose face had turned beet red from certain contact at which Beelzemon's eyes narrowed at and yet the Rookie also made no move to get off the Mega.

So, Beelzemon came to the only conclusion that seemed sensible (to _him_):

He didn't _know_ who the Rookie was, but it most certainly was _his_ fault. The Demon Lord of Gluttony strode over with a deceptively calm demeanor and seized Elecmon by the collar of his jacket. Beelzemon roughly lifted Elecmon up and held him by the scruff of his neck so he was dangling about a foot off the ground.

"Heh, heh…I take it you're Beelzemon…?" Lec said. "There is a great explanation for this, and I'll be happy to tell you…"

"There _better_ be an explanation for this, kid," Beelzemon growled.

"Okay, Kuzuhamon went to get a cup to get some water, but the floor was wet from when Lady Magnadramon had cleaned earlier. I went to knock her back so at least her head would hit the carpet, and that's exactly what happened," Lec said. "Now let me go!"

"_Or_…you were trying to pull somethin' with my girlfriend," Beelzemon said with a smirk. "An' if it is...I'm gonna have fun ripping you to pieces."

"I wasn't!" Lec growled.

"Beelzemon…he's telling the truth," Kuzuha said to him. "It was all an accident."

"So…an accident, huh? That's all it was?" Beelzemon asked the Rookie.

"Yes, now let go of me!" Elecmon snarled.

"Do you really think that I'm that stupid?" Beelzemon asked.

"I think you're just getting all enraged over a frickin' _misunderstanding_," Lec said, defiance and scorn in his voice.

"So, the little pain in the neck Rookie really _does_ have claws," Beelzemon mocked.

"I'll show _you_ claws," Lec muttered. "Assassin's Bolt!" he snarled, sending a blast of lightning to strike the Demon Lord.

Beelzemon stumbled back, a bit stunned by the ferocity of the Rookie Digimon's attack strength. That moment of surprise gave Elecmon the opportunity to wrench himself out of Beelzemon's grasp and whirled around to confront the Demon Lord face-to-face. Now that the two were facing each other head-on, the others in the room were surprised to note that Elecmon was actually almost as tall as Beelzemon.

"You're a lot tougher than you look," Beelzemon said to the Rookie.

"Thank you," Elecmon said with a sarcastic grin.

Despite how cordial the two were acting, the stances the two had taken more than suggested that the two of them would soon be in a fight.

"Okay, guys, that's enough," Salamon said, walking between the two of them. "Will the two of you cut it out?"

"He started it!" Lec shouted.

"Excuse me, _you're _the one who landed on my girlfriend!" Beelzemon growled.

"On. _Accident!_"

"Fighting like this isn't gonna get us anywhere," Calumon said with an uncharacteristic (to Beelzemon) firmness to his voice. "All that's going to happen is the two of you are gonna tear each other to pieces!"

"Okay, now _that_ is definitely not the creampuff Calumon I remember," Beelzemon said.

"I've had a Tamer for about a year, Beelzemon. I've had to do a lot of fighting even though I'd have preferred otherwise. I have Saran to look out for now. I don't have the luxury of being my old self," Calumon said. "You're lucky – you've had your attacks all nice and figured out for you! I had to have someone help me find my own. Something I can use in battle. Something I can use to protect Princess Rini and Saran with. Something that won't make me useless for anything other than Digivolution."

Beelzemon stared at the young Digimon boy. There was something about him now that came through his normally sweet and playful demeanor. The look in Calumon's grassy green eyes still held that same playfulness, but it was also a bit more mature. A more grown look to him that could only have been achieved only if…

_He wasn't kidding. He's had to grow up a _lot, Beelzemon realized. _Note to self: Stop calling him creampuff._ "So what exactly can you _do_ now?"

"A lot of things," Calumon said. "Not the least of which is being able to use the abilities of other Digimon."

"How many other Digimon? You didn't go on a killing spree, did you?" Beelzemon asked with humor in his three eyes.

"All of them," the Catalyst said.

"So you truly are…Digivolution incarnate," Kuzuha said in awe.

"Wait, I don't get it – how can you use the attacks of every Digimon? Rini can't have _that_ many cards," Beelzemon asked the younger Digimon.

"I'm Digivolution itself, Beelzemon. I think it's fairly likely I can use all the attacks."

"But…how?"

"Reconfiguration," Saran said. She normally spoke quite a bit, but was still a bit shy around strangers. "Nii-chan can use his abilities to take on not only the attacks, but some of the appearance of any Digimon. It's only temporary, though, but he becomes much more powerful."

"Whoa. Remind me not to get on your bad side, Cal," Labramon said. "Oh, sorry. Do you prefer to be called by your full name?"

"Cal is fine," he said. "Lec and Flora call me that anyway."

"Lec? Flora? Who are those two?" Beelzemon asked.

"I'm Lec," Elecmon said. "Since we took human forms, we shortened our names so humans wouldn't freak out."

"Would Flora then be Flora_mon?_" Kuzuha asked.

"Yes. Elecmon and Floramon are like my older brother and sister," Cal said. "Even if Lec gets on my nerves sometimes."

"Okay, so you're partnered to Rini…" Beelzemon turned to look at Elecmon. "What sorry boy got partnered with _you?_"

"None did," Lec said.

"Lec's Tamer is a girl named Laura," Salamon said. "It works out fairly well as a combination."

"Man, do I feel sorry for _you,_ having a fe –" Beelzemon stopped mid-sentence. "Uh…sorry, Calumon."

"It's okay," Calumon said.

It was then a stab of guilt ran through the Demon Lord, as he remembered one other male Digimon with a female Tamer.

Leomon. And Jeri.

Regrets washed through him as he stayed silent.

"Hey, you okay?" Kuzuhamon asked him.

"Yeah, Kuzuha, I'll be fine," Beelzemon said.

"And now we have gotten off-topic," Salamon said. "Noah, hand me back that program."

"Sure thing, Salamon," Noah said, handing it back over. Salamon set it up in her computer and looked at the Demon Lord. "Beelzemon, come here."

"Uh…sure," Beelzemon said, going over to the Rookie Great Angel. "Why?"

Salamon stood up and glared at him. It was obvious she was significantly shorter than the Mega.

"Well, lean over."

"What?" he asked, confused by her strange requests.

"I _will_ kick you," Salamon said. "Don't doubt it for a moment."

"Y'know, kitty-cat, just because you're the one who figured out how to give us human forms doesn't hafta mean you can act all high-and-mighty," Beelzemon said.

"I'm not the only one in humanoid form," Salamon growled.

"Who? Your sister? That Floramon girl? You're all still Rookie level – 'cept for Calumon and yer sister, they're In-Training."

"Shadowstar," Salamon smirked. "She's got a humanoid form and demon powers, and she's loving every minute of it."

Beelzemon took a tiny step back. The Eevee he'd met the same time he'd met Windy and Salamon had been a cocky, battle-hungry…cat-wolf…thing (the first, last, and _only_ time he'd called her a rabbit, he'd gotten hit in his laughing face by an attack called Shadow Ball). Shadowstar had been quite savage in battle, as he'd learned when he decided to tag along with Windy and Rini one time. The Eevee had a speed and power that put Renamon's to shame, and apparently – unlike the fox face and her Tamer – Shadowstar, Salamon, and Windy were some of the best of friends in the world.

"Okay, you've got a point," Beelzemon conceded, kneeling a little. "Why did you – _ow! That hurt!_" he shouted as Salamon deftly pulled a hair out of his head.

"I needed something for the program to recognize," Salamon said, placing the hair on a small reader and programming Beelzemon's data signature into it. "Now the program won't see you as a threat. There, was that so hard?"

Beelzemon just rubbed the back of his head and stood up, looking a bit irritated. "Did you have to pull _that_ hard, Salamon?"

"Hmm…not really, but then…I kinda owed back from when you tried to hit me with that fireball."

"So, that was business and revenge all tied up into one? Real mature_ Lady Magnadramon_."

"Hey, _I'm_ not the former park terror, _Lord Beelzemon_."

Beelzemon just shook his head. "Okay, you got me. Sorry, okay?"

"I forgive you," Salamon said before handing the program to Noah again. "Take care of that, Noah."

"I will, Lady Magnadramon," Noah said, inclining his head.

"Hey, Beelzemon?" Labramon said, walking over to the Demon Lord.

"What is it?"

"We met some of your old…friends earlier, and they mentioned…well…"

"'Well…' what? What did they tell you?" Beelzemon asked.

"Caturamon!" Labramon said before hiding behind the sofa.

Beelzemon growled then looked over at Kuzuhamon. "They didn't mention…"

Kuzuhamon looked away.

"They brought up my old deal with Caturamon in front of you? Those human pests didn't have any right to tell you that!"

"It was that stupid rabbit!" Labramon yelled. "He's the one who said it!"

"Of _course _it was Terriermon. By the way, Labramon, nice job. Retri Bark?"

"You bet," Labramon said, poking his head over the sofa.

Beelzemon laughed wickedly at the young canine.

"Please…don't encourage him," Noah said.

"Sorry. So…we've got everything, right?" the Demon Lord asked.

"Looks that way," Salamon said. "Unless the four of you are forgetting something."

"I can't think of anything," Kuzuhamon said.

"Neither can I," Noah said.

"I think we've got everything handled," Labramon said.

"I've done everything I came here to do," Beelzemon said.

"I guess then you guys can go home," Salamon said. "Since there seems to be nothing else for you to do here."

"…or we could explore the city…" Noah suggested. "Lady Ophanimon didn't say anything about having to come back right away…so do you think maybe we could? I haven't really been in the city for years, so I'd also like to see it again."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Salamon said. "Hmm…though I've got some work I still have to do, so I can't play tour guide."

"I draw _waaaay_ too much attention to wanna go outside," Calumon said.

"Why's that?"

Calumon froze up and blushed, silencing up from the question to avoid an answer that would ultimately result in what would most likely be teasing from the Demon Lord.

"Come, on, Calumon, the worst thing I can do is make fun of you – and you've grown up too much for me to do that anymore."

The spinning Digimon stayed silent.

Beelzemon sighed.

"He has fangirls," Saran bluntly said. "They chase him around a lot if he's by himself."

"Saran!" Calumon protested.

"Staying silent accomplishes nothing except having Beelzemon tease you. At least this way, he may think before he speaks."

Beelzemon was at the moment trying his best to keep from laughing at the young Digimon, slightly choking on his breath while he refrained from unleashing that which would seriously offend him.

"Oh, just get it over with," Calumon sighed in resignation.

"Sorry…" Beelzemon said before bursting out with laughter.

To their credit, Kuzuhamon, Noah, and Labramon managed to keep a better control on their chuckles. Salamon and Elecmon were already used to the young Digimon's…problem.

And, finally, the Demon Lord regained his composure enough to speak normally.

"I'm sorry, Calumon…but that was just too funny…"

"I'm used to it by now," Calumon sighed. "But don't bring it up too much, please. I may be used to it, but I don't have to _like_ it."

"All right, Calumon," Beelzemon said. "What about your sister?"

"I stay with nii-chan. Always," Saran said in a determined voice.

"Wait a minute, that only leaves _him!_" Beelzemon realized, pointing at Elecmon, who was currently in the process of getting a soda.

"What? I didn't do anything wrong," Elecmon said.

The Demon Lord of Gluttony narrowed his eyes at the most teenaged of the partnered Digimon in the room.

"For the last, frickin' time – _that was an accident!_" Elecmon shouted.

"Oh, shut up," Beelzemon growled.

"Guys, cool it," Kuzuha said, grabbing Beelzemon's arm. "Lady Magnadramon, are you _sure_ there's nothing you can do?"

"Sorry, Kuzuhamon, but I can't. I'm gonna hang out with Shadowstar later, so unless you want Beelzemon to get seriously whipped by an irritable demon girl, the only one left is Lec."

"Fine!" Beelzemon shouted. "I'll let Elecmon guide us around town while we're here…but if he tries anything with Kuzuhamon, I'm gonna punch him."

"None of us partnered Digimon would try that," Calumon said. "We all long since made a pact that romantic involvements would be a bad idea and distract us from our jobs of protecting our Tamers. Even if it goes against our own personal wishes sometimes…"

"What does that mean?" Labramon asked, confused.

"Lec…would probably flirt with Kuzuhamon…but not outright try to take her away," Salamon said. "And Beelzemon, you really need to stop getting so irritated, or do you think so little of Kuzuhamon that you think she'd be so easily swayed?"  
"Um…crud. I'm sorry, Kuzuha…" Beelzemon said.

"I forgive you," Kuzuha replied, hugging him. "So, shall we go?"

"All right," Lec said. "But you better keep demon boy from trying ta kill me. My Tamer's an ex-assassin, ya know."

"You don't scare me, brat."

"Beelzemon, stop it. Please," Kuzuha said.

"Fine."

"Come on, guys," Noah said, going back into the tunnel. Everyone else shortly followed.

* * *

**MWAHAHAHA...it's done. D This chapter, anyway.  
Ugh...so much stuff...so little time...  
Anyway, please review~  
What could POSSIBLY happen now?**

**(And in case you couldn't tell, I like torturing Lec. D)  
**


	18. Learning the Rules

**Well, I woulda updated this yesterday, but then my RPing buddy just HAD to make Grell from Kuroshitsuji meet Hotaru/Sailor Saturn from Sailor Moon with hilarious and cute results.**

**Plus this chapter was a pain in the butt to name.  
As usual, drop a review if it's not too much trouble and I don't own a single thing no matter how much I'd love to.  
And yes, Lec DOES get more torture, because I love making him suffer.  
Lec: Thanks...  
Me: You're welcome!**

**Chapter 18: Learning the Rules  
**

Once the group was back on the surface, Noah made Labramon Digivolve so he and Lec could ride on Dobermon's back to shore.

"Hey, why'd we stay behind?" Kuzuhamon asked, puzzled.

Beelzemon just smirked and shifted into his Blast Mode, eyes turning a brilliant green and raven wings unfurling from his back.

"So…that was your plan all along, was it?" Kuzuha asked with a small grin on her face.

"Are you complaining?" Beelzemon asked his girlfriend.

"No, not really," she said.

Beelzemon laughed and picked her up, flying into the air and swooping over the lake. It was an almost picturesque sight, really – the Demon Lord and his girlfriend, flying and laughing in the air.

"Well, it looks like they're having fun," Noah said.

"Yeah…it does…" Lec said, looking up at them as the two were beginning to land. Unfortunately, due to the wind kicked up by the flapping of Beelzemon's wings, Kuzuhamon's skirt drifted up just enough for a certain electric Digimon to accidentally see up as he lifted his head to look at the couple. It took all his willpower not to turn beet red at the sight of it – though he did turn red a little, and earned a slight scowl from a Demon Lord once it was realized what Lec saw.

Beelzemon suddenly stopped and dropped the last couple of inches to the ground, earning a surprised yelp from Kuzuha. She wasn't hurt though – being significantly shorter than her boyfriend and having her arms wrapped around his neck while he was carrying her (and his around her waist) kept her from harm – Kuzuhamon was just shocked by the sudden landing.

"A little warning next time?" Kuzuha asked.

"Sorry, Kuzuha," Beelzemon said before going over to Lec and smacking him in the head.

"What the frikin' heck was that about?" Lec growled at the Demon Lord.

Beelzemon didn't respond at first, opting instead for pulling Elecmon into a chokehold. The younger Rookie Digimon could only just barely keep the Mega's forearm from crushing his windpipe.

"What is your issue?" Lec snarled.

Beelzemon lowered his voice to a deadly whisper as he spoke into Elecmon's ear, "Look up my girlfriend's skirt again, and I'll skin you while you scream."

"Digimon don't really _have_ skin, ya do realize this, right?" Lec said in a jovial manner, hoping his humor would be enough to save him.

One could almost _hear_ the smirk on Beelzemon's face. "I know."

"I'm not scared of you," Elecmon growled. "You think that because you're a Mega, you're the toughest being around, dont'cha?"

"Oh…I _know_ I'm tougher than _you_," Beelzemon said. "After all…you're just a runt."

"So what – you're gonna pick on a Rookie just to prove your strength? Real tough, man. Tch, more like _pathetic as all heck!_"

Kuzuhamon walked over to Noah and the now-degenerated Labramon and asked them, "Should we do something about this?"

"Are you kidding? I'm not gonna get in their way! That's suicide!" Labramon said.

"I agree with Labramon on this, Kuzuhamon," Noah said.

"I don't want Beelzemon to hurt Elecmon, though…"

"Hey, Kuzuha!" Beelzemon said. "You wanna help me with this?"

"Help you with what? All he did was look up at me when…we…were landing…" Kuzuhamon trailed off as she realized what had happened when they landed. And she began growling.

Lec stared at the ground, refusing to look up at the others.

"Okay, that's more than just staring. Lec, what happened?" Noah asked.

"Um…"

Labramon and Noah regarded the Rookie's statement for a minute, thinking about what Elecmon could have seen. Then they slowly began backing away, not wanting to get involved in what could possibly be the end of the young Digimon.

"I can't believe that you saw up her skirt," Labramon said. "Well, it was nice knowin' ya, Lec."

"Come on,_ one _of you should help me!" Lec snarled.

"Again, suicidal," Labramon said.

"Sorry, Elecmon."

Meanwhile, Kuzuhamon had summoned her staff from its disguise as her necklace. Slowly, she walked over to Elecmon and lifted the weapon. "Beelzemon, let him go."

"All right," the Demon Lord said, letting go of Elecmon and walking over to stand behind her. "What are you gonna do?"

Elecmon took a small step back when he saw the fury in her face. He knew that look of intense anger. _Oh crud._

Kuzuhamon didn't even call out an attack. Instead, she just brought the staff down on top of Elecmon's head as hard as she could, causing the Rookie Digimon to scream in pain as he collapsed to his knees. With a glimmer of satisfaction in her eyes, she turned the staff back into her pendant and hooked it around her neck again. "Next time, keep your eyes to yourself," Kuzuhamon said firmly.

"It was an accident! It's not like I _plan_ for this stuff to happen!" Lec growled, standing back up and wincing as he touched the small lump on his head.

"Well, try and plan for it to _not_ happen!" Kuzuhamon snapped back.

"I'm so proud of you," Beelzemon said, hugging her from behind. "I trained you very well."

Kuzuhamon smiled and leaned into him. "Thank you," she said.

Elecmon just scowled at the couple, irritated that, once again, he was used as someone's punching bag.

However, a rumbling sound brought the trio out of their seething hatred.

"What the heck…?" Beelzemon said, turning to see Behemoth rumbling at Noah and looking like it was getting ready to charge.

"Okay…someone wanna fill me in here?" Elecmon asked.

"That motorcycle is Behemoth. He's a sentient machine who belongs to Beelzemon. Behemoth…isn't a big fan of Noah's," Labramon said. "Last time they met…well, I didn't see what happened, but Noah was _owned._"

"Remind me to respect the machinery, then," the teenaged Digimon said.

"Wise choice," the canine Digimon said.

"Beelzemon, call off your motorcycle," Noah said.

"Behemoth, leave him alone," Beelzemon ordered the motorcycle.

Behemoth still continued its advance on Noah, rumbling and inching forward on the 'preteen'.

"Please, Behemoth, just leave Noah alone. He hasn't done anything to you," Kuzuhamon said to the demon bike.

And then, slowly, Behemoth began backing off from the digitized human and going back to running around the lake.

"Nice work," Beelzemon said to Kuzuha. "Though…it's a bit sad that my motorcycle listens to my girlfriend more than it listens to me."

"Thank you. And Behemoth listens to me more because I'm more lovable."

"Are we gonna go into town or not?" Lec said, standing up.

Behemoth raced over to its master and his girlfriend, rumbling hopefully.

"Sorry, Behemoth, but we're kinda gonna be in a big group, so you'll have to wait here," Beelzemon told his motorcycle.

Behemoth's sagged a bit on its tires, obviously sad that it couldn't go with its master on their trip.

Beelzemon patted the handlebars of the motorcycle, and Behemoth raced off, doing laps around the lake to keep from being bored.

"Let's get goin'," Lec said, starting out of the woods.

"Oh, who says we hafta follow _you?_" Beelzemon said, shifting back into his 'flawed' form.

"Since I've been around here in the daytime a lot more than you recently, I'd say it was a safe bet. Plus, food's on me," Lec said.

"Fine," Beelzemon said with a smirk.

"And if you try to go all 'Demon Lord of Gluttony' on me, I've still got a few attacks I haven't used yet."

"Like I'm scared of that, Rookie runt."

"Guys, stop it," Noah said, opting to walk between the two so they wouldn't kill each other. "We don't want to draw too much attention, do we?"

"Aren't we going to already, though?" Kuzuha asked. "I mean…a biker, obviously a rich boy and his dog, what looks like a teenage delinquent, and –"

"Two bikers, Kuzuha," Beelzemon said. "You're dressed as a biker, too."

"Fine. _Two_ bikers, a rich boy and his dog, and a teenage delinquent are all hanging out together. Wouldn't that already draw attention?"

"Does that really matter, though? We're all odd enough to draw attention, anyway," Lec said.

"You're the crayon-head," Beelzemon pointed out.

"Guys," Kuzuha said.

"Sorry," Beelzemon told her.

"So…where are we gonna go first?" Noah asked. "Anyone have any ideas that include Labramon?"

"Well, the arcades are out," Elecmon said. "And the movies. Now I'm bored."

"You've adapted fairly well to the human world," Noah said wryly.

"Hey, it's interesting."

"What's that place?" Kuzuhamon asked, pointing up to a large building complex with a bunch of people going in and out. "It looks pretty cool."

Elecmon turned around and, being the only one who could tell that look slowly going distant, walked behind Kuzuhamon and quickly began shoving her away from the mall. He managed to get her all the way to the next block before Beelzemon, Noah, and Labramon all finally caught up to the two.

"What the heck are you thinking, you idiot?" Beelzemon shouted at the Rookie as Kuzuha finally realized she'd been taken down the street.

Elecmon crooked a finger at Beelzemon, motioning for the older Digimon to talk to him privately. The Rookie placed an arm on the Mega's shoulder as he began to explain. "You need to _thank_ me."

"And why's that?"

"I live in a house pretty much filled with girls. One of them in particular enjoys malls. I saw the same look on Kuzuha's face, and _knew_ that she'd find trouble in there. The malls have stores, and the females are drawn to stores because of some strange, unknown reason. And then…they buy things," Elecmon explained to the Mega. "You wanna have to carry these things? Or buy them?"

"Why would _I –_"

"You're her boyfriend. It's your 'job'."

"Kuzuhamon's not really that into normal human girly things, though."

"So? I've seen the same look on Lady Magnadramon's face when she gets close to an electronics store. Particularly the ones that specialize in computers. And bookstores. The _point_ is that the place lures you in and basically brainwashes you into spending all of your money," Lec said. "See my point?"

"Your right…that is a bit scary…" Beelzemon said to the younger Digimon. As the Demon Lord of Gluttony turned around to go back to Kuzuha's side, he said with a smile to the Rookie level, "Oh, and I'm the only one allowed to call her Kuzuha. Call her that again, and I'll flay your tongue, got it?"

"Like you scare me," Lec sneered. "I'll just use Sparking Thunder on your miserable butt."

Mega and Rookie glared at each other for a minute before rejoining the others.

"What were the two of you talking about anyway?" Kuzuha asked.

"It's not really important," Beelzemon replied.

"Really?" Kuzuhamon said, clearly unconvinced.

"Would I lie to you?"

"Maybe," she told him.

Beelzemon sighed. "Listen, it was just nothing, okay?"

"All right," Kuzuhamon said. "So, where are we gonna go from here?"  
"Well, since we have a dog in our midst…we're left with only one place – the park," Lec said.

"And if we run into the other Tamers, it'll be on you," Beelzemon said.

"Big place like that? They'll never find us," Lec assured them.

"Uh-huh…"

"Fine. Have fun wandering around Tokyo by yourselves…" Lec waved them off, beginning to walk away.

"Guys…" Labramon whispered. "What choice do we really have here? Noah hasn't really been in actual Tokyo in years, I've never been here – plus, I'm a dog. And the two of you are only here at night!"

"Labramon's got a point," Kuzuhamon mused.

"Yeah…all right, he's right," Beelzemon admitted. "And I didn't want to admit it, too…"

"He _does _seem like the type to rub it in…" Noah said.

"_Seems?_" Kuzuha asked. "He is. I just know it. He reminds me of Gazimon in that sense," she said before quieting down. The mention of her friend's name – even by her – still sent her into a small depression.

"Why don't we go talk to Elecmon again?" Noah suggested.

"I'm not admitting I was wrong to him," Beelzemon said firmly.

"I know. And you won't have to," the digitized human told the Demon Lord.

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Kuzuha told her friends and boyfriend. "Let's go."

"All right," Beelzemon sighed, allowing his girlfriend to lead him over to the Rookie Digimon who was already well into the park.

* * *

**Well, here we are at the end of another chapter. Originally, I was going to post more than this because this wasn't a great place to stop, but I think the next part deserves its own chapter and altogether, it was ten pages in MS Word, and I won't do that to you all.  
So yeah, review? **


	19. Meeting the Tamers

**Well, aren't I nice? Two uploads in one day. Watch the world blow up now. I'm rather proud of this part.  
**

**As usual, I don't own anything except this fanfiction.  
**

**And I hope you all enjoy!  
**

**Chapter Nineteen: Meeting the Tamers**

The group finally reached the sardonic red and blue Digimon, and Noah briefly pleaded their case.

"Please, Lec, we can't exactly navigate this city alone," the digital human told the Rookie.

"All right…I'll resume my post as tour guide…" Lec said.

The others breathed a sigh of relief.

"_If_ Sunshine over there admits I was right and he was wrong," he finished with a Cheshire grin.

"You –" the Demon Lord started forward, ready to punch out the younger Digimon. He was only stopped by Kuzuhamon leaping forward to hold him back.

"Beelzemon, don't," Kuzuha pleaded.

"That smug little brat…" Beelzemon growled at the Rookie.

"Sorry, but those're my conditions, Beelze," Lec grinned.

Now, Beelzemon was quite tolerant of the Rookie until now (he hadn't shot Elecmon yet, right?), but having his named shortened like it was only served to remind him Daemon's tendencies toward the same. The Demon Lord _hated_ having his name shortened as a result (he shortened Kuzuhamon's name because he liked how it sounded, and it was something that only he did when addressing her). However, now that the younger Digimon had (although unintentionally) reminded the Demon Lord of his rather unfortunate nickname, Beelzemon decided to just punch Elecmon square in the face.

"Hey!" Lec shouted. "What the frick was _that_ about?"

"Don't you _dare_ call me that! Not ever again!" Beelzemon shouted, straining to attack him again, but couldn't as Kuzuha once again had begun trying to restrain him. "You got that, you little brat?"

"Ow…" Lec said, standing back up. "Okay, was that _really_ necessary?"

"Yes," Beelzemon spat.

"Y'know what, shut up."

"I'll make you shut up!" Beelzemon snarled, drawing his guns. "Double –"

"Beelzemon!" twin voices shouted, running up to hug the Digimon in human form, oblivious to the fact that he had a gun.

"We missed you!" Ai said, hugging the Digimon partner she shared with her brother.

"Have you beaten the bad Digimon yet?" Makoto asked, also hugging the Digimon he shared with his sister. The boy looked over at Lec. "Is _he_ a bad Digimon?"

"He's just annoying," Beelzemon said, storing the weapon so he could hug the two kids. "So, how've you guys been?"

"We started school," Ai said. "And we drew you in class as our best friend, but everyone thought you were imaginary…"

"They're mean…" Makoto added.

"So what? If they knew, they'd be jealous and you two know it."

"You're right!" Mako said happily.

"Yeah!" Ai cheered.

"So are there any other Digimon around?" Makoto asked hopefully. "What kind's the red man? Is he a Demon Lord?"

"He's –"

"A partnered Digimon, same as you," Elecmon sneered at the Demon Lord. "Name's Elecmon."

"Who's your partner?" Ai asked. "Is he mean?"

"My partner…heh…"

"Hi. I'm Labramon," Labramon said cheerfully, padding over to the twins.

Ai and Makoto laughed and hugged the dog, fawning over him.

Ai looked up at Noah. "Are you his Tamer?"

"Companion, actually. I'm also made of data."

"You don't look like it," Mako said.

"Trust me, I am," Noah assured them.

"Hey, Ai and Mako," Beelzemon said to his twin Tamers. The children looked up from petting Labramon and gazed at their Mega-level partner.

"What is it, Beelzemon?" Ai asked.

Beelzemon looked at Kuzuha and smiled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Then he looked back at the twins. "This is Kuzuhamon. She's my girlfriend."

Ai and Makoto immediately left Labramon, causing the canine to whimper in sadness, to go over to the female Mega.

"You're a Digimon? You're too pretty and human-like…" Ai said in wonder, playing with a few strands of Kuzuha's hair, the whole of it tied behind her back with Beelzemon's bandana.

"Ai, let me see that D-Power," Beelzemon said, holding out his hand so she could give him the device. Smiling, the girl removed it from around her neck and handed it to him. The Demon Lord pressed the small computer back into Ai's hand so that the display screen was facing up.

To the young girl's surprise, the display screen flashed to life and showed a picture of Kuzuhamon in her true form.

"Kuzuhamon…a fox priestess Digimon who's lived a long time. She controls ancient Shintoism divination magic, and is the chaos form of Sakuyamon," Ai read. "Have you really lived that long?" the young girl asked, looking up into the face of what looked like a biker woman in her late teens.

Kuzuha laughed. "No, I haven't. I'm…a special case."

"Cool!" Makoto said happily. "Beelzemon's super nice, huh?"

"Yes, he is," Kuzuhamon said to the young boy. "I can't even begin to tell you how many times he's saved my life."

"Beelzemon's just awesome like that," Mako agreed.

"Hey, isn't that Beelzemon's scarf in your hair?" Ai asked.

"I gave that to her," Beelzemon told the twins.

Ai smiled. "You like her lots, huh?"

"You have no idea."

"Will you play with us, Beelzemon?" Mako asked.

"Yeah!" Ai said. "Turn back into Impmon and play with us!"

"Not today, guys," Beelzemon told them. "I'm on a date with Kuzuhamon now, and I'd rather stay in Mega form."

"Awwwwwwwwww!" the twins complained.

"Noah and Labramon will play with you," Beelzemon said, looking over at the digitized human and his canine companion. "Right?" the look he had in his eyes promised grisly death if they declined.

"Sure," Noah said, completely unfazed by the Demon Lord's unspoken threat.

"Okay!" Labramon cheered, bounding over to Ai and licking her face. The young girl giggled at the dog, and the boy looked up at Noah.

"All right," the digital human said, going over to play with the kids.

"And what about me?" Lec muttered to the Mega.

"You'd only corrupt them. Buzz off," Beelzemon growled at Lec.

"More than a Demon Lord?"

"They're my Tamers. That's different."

"Speaking of Tamers, Elecmon, where _is_ yours?" Kuzuha asked.

"Unless, of course, your Tamer is just a pathetic loser, and you're ashamed to admit it," Beelzemon said mockingly.

"All right, mocking me is one thing, but when you go after my _Tamer_ is when I get ticked off," Elecmon growled.

"Oh, did I strike a nerve with the Baby?" Beelzemon mocked.

"If you didn't with him, you sure as heck did with me," a new voice said from behind them.

"What the –" Beelzemon jumped at the sudden female voice. Beelzemon and Kuzuhamon turned around to see a girl of about fourteen dressed in dark brown and black, with her earthy hair tied back behind her head and her steely gray eyes looking thoroughly annoyed. She stood there, arms crossed, and tapping her foot on the pavement. The girl also had a strange glove with an inset where one could place a jewel, and her belt had a D-Power, some Digimon cards, a strange pouch, and attached to her belt…

_IS THAT A SWORD?_ Beelzemon thought incredulously.

"Are you by any chance…" Kuzuha trailed off.

"Elecmon's Tamer? Yep," she said.

"I meant to say the 'ex-assassin', but that'll do," the fox woman said.

"Who are you two, and why are you torturing my Digimon?" she asked.

"I'm Beelzemon, and she's my girlfriend, Kuzuhamon. Now who the heck are you?"

"Laura Roberts, you idiot Demon Lord," Laura snapped. "Now, you never answered my second question."

"He was basically being an annoying little creep who also flirted with my girlfriend. Perverted little brat," Beelzemon said, directing the last towards the Rookie Digimon.

"Hey! Don't insult my Digimon!" Laura snarled.

"Would you rather I insult _you_ then, kid?" Beelzemon taunted.

"Um, Beelzemon…I don't think you shoulda done that…" Kuzuha said.

"Why?" Beelzemon asked. "What do _you_ think, crayon head?" he asked the younger Digimon, only to see that Elecmon had wisely moved away. "What the heck?"

Laura began growling. And not the irritated kind of growl Rika made, but a serious, animalistic growl that was reminiscent of a wolf's and would have made Leviamon extremely jealous about it (never mind that making Leviamon, the Demon Lord of Envy, jealous was rather simple). A steely, rasping sound was heard next, as two claws in both of Laura's hands slowly slid out of hiding. The blades glinted in the light – strangely, the claws didn't have a trace of blood on them.

Before Beelzemon could react, Laura had dashed up to him and held the lethal blades up to his neck. It was obvious from the young woman's stance that she'd fought innumerable times, and wasn't afraid to kill.

"Listen jerk, I don't take well to those who threaten my friends – even if they're annoying at times. Do it again, and so help me, I'll remove your head from your shoulders," she whispered.

The Demon Lord just stood there, stunned at what the human girl had told him.

"Got it?" Laura asked him, head tilted to one side.

Kuzuhamon was standing close enough to have heard what the human girl said, and immediately brought out her staff, swinging it around to strike the human.

"Don't you dare threaten him," Kuzuha growled, a little satisfied to know that her strike had drawn blood on the wild ex-assassin. "Do it again, and I'll make certain you regret it."

_When did Kuzuha get like this?_ Beelzemon thought, mind drifting away from the danger to regard his now infuriated girlfriend. _Whatever it is, I like it,_ he thought with a small smirk. _And hey, she was able to injure the – WHAT THE HECK?_ The Demon Lord thought in surprise as he saw Laura's forehead.

Kuzuha also was stunned, lowering the staff in shock and awe. _That…can't be possible…_she thought. The gash she'd made on the teen's forehead had healed over, leaving only a slowly drying patch of blood.

"Beauty of immortality – I don't have to worry about the little things like injury," Laura said. "Now, this is how it's gonna go – you two leave Elecmon alone in the threatening his life sense an' I'll keep him in line. Okay?"

"Okay," Kuzuhamon said, still rattled from what she'd seen.

"Fine…" Beelzemon sighed, giving in. "I'm sorry…Elecmon…" he grated.

"I forgive you," the Rookie said smugly.

"You're not off the hook, Lec," Laura growled.

"Fine…I'm sorry, too, Beelzemon."

"Thank you. I forgive you, too," the Demon Lord said.

"My apologies also for attacking," Kuzuha said to the younger girl.

"Eh. I've been attacked before, so I'm used to it," Laura shrugged.

"What's going on?" Ai asked, running up to them with Mako. Noah and Labramon were behind them, walking casually. Noah looked a little worn out from playing with the kids, but Labramon was bounding along happily.

"Ai, Mako, this is Laura, Elecmon's Tamer," Beelzemon told them, indicating the dark haired teen.

"It's nice to meet you," Laura said with a bow. "Congrats on Taming such a…prickly Digimon."

"Thank you…?" Mako asked the older girl.

"Yeah, thanks," Beelzemon said, rolling his eyes.

"Did you know that your Digimon isn't all that nice?" Ai asked her peer.

"Elecmon's…offbeat, I'll grant you, but he's also like a brother to me," Laura told the younger girl. "He's a loyal partner."

"Beelzemon is, too…once he came back and me and Mako stopped fighting," Ai smiled.

"Cool," Laura replied with a small grin.

"So why are you here, Laura?" Noah asked.

"Takin' a shortcut. I'm on my way to meet up with Koji…"

"Who's Koji?" Beelzemon asked.

"He's the Legendary Warrior of Light, Lobomon," Kuzuhamon said. "Mistress Nefertimon and Lady Ophanimon told me about the Warriors."

_So the legends are true…_Beelzemon thought. _Huh._

"Man, Laura…this is what – your third date this week?" Lec teased.

"Shut up," Laura snarled, blushing. It was really the _fourth_.

"What's a date?" Ai and Mako asked.

"Something the two of you don't need to worry about for a long time. Especially you, Ai," Beelzemon said quickly.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"I'll explain it when you're older," he told her.

Most girls, when they reached their teenage years, would be angry at their fathers for disapproving of any and all boys they dated. Those girls should count themselves lucky though, as they would never have a protective Demon Lord to discourage boys.

"Okay," Ai said, shrugging it off.

"So, where are all of you headed?" Laura asked the Digimon group.

"I really don't know," Beelzemon said. "Elecmon…was leading us."

"Ah. So you'll probably wind up at the movies…" Laura mused.

"We can't," Elecmon told his Tamer. "After all, Labramon's in our group…and he's a dog."

"Oh yeah…" Kuzuha said. "How _are_ we gonna be able to hang out? I mean…no offence, Labramon…but…"

"I know. Humans don't like animals in their businesses, thinking they all carry germs and stuff," Labramon said. "I heard all the stories."

"It's okay. You three go on ahead," Noah said. "Kuzuha's never been to the movies, and there's nothing I need to see anyway."

"You sure?" Beelzemon asked the digital human.

"Yeah. It's really not that big a deal, plus Ai and Mako are nice kids," Noah told him.

"They sure are!" Labramon said happily. "Plus, since I can't go into a movie theater, I might as well hang out with some people I don't hafta be quiet around."

"All right…" the Demon Lord of Gluttony told his two friends. "Ai, Mako, be good for the two of them."

"Okay, Beelzemon," his twin Tamers said cheerfully as they, Noah, and Labramon all went back over to the playground and began hanging out.

"I should be goin', too…" Laura said, starting to leave. "I've gotta meet up with Koji."

"I thought his parents hated you because you're 'American'?" Lec asked his Tamer.

"So? Like I care what they think. If they knew how many times Koji and I saved each other's hides…"

"I thought you weren't telling them."

"That's not the point," Laura grated.

"I thought it was."

"Lec!"

"Hey, I thought you had to go…" Elecmon teased.

Laura just glared at her often annoying partner before leaving, muttering to herself in a mix of German, Japanese, English, and…another language that two-thirds of the teenage/young adult Digimon didn't even realized existed. The remaining third just winced at the choice of language.

"Man…she spends too much time around her knight friends…" Lec muttered.

"What?" Beelzemon asked.

"And what was that fourth language?" Kuzuha asked the red and blue Digimon.

"Styric," Lec explained.

"That isn't a language," Beelzemon scoffed.

"Yeah it is. It's on a different planet. I would know, having been to said planet."

"Whatever," the Demon Lord said. "Let's just go to the movies."

"I agree," Kuzuha added.

Lec just shrugged and walked off, leading them to the movie theater.

_I really need to start getting paid for this,_ the electric Digimon thought bitterly as he continued to lead them.

* * *

**And Elecmon's Tamer has been revealed. Laura Roberts, aka X-23 - though more based off of her two episodes in X-Men: Evolution than the comic books. I know her eyes are green really, but I had forgotten that, so I picked gray. Just...pretend she has those cosmetic contacts. **

**You know, you'd think given Tamer's personality, Lec would know not to antagonize people. **

**And a cookie to anyone who knows where the Styric language comes from.  
**


End file.
